diff --git a/.github/actions/watcher/action.yaml b/.github/actions/watcher/action.yaml
index 2025f65c2..df09bef20 100644
--- a/.github/actions/watcher/action.yaml
+++ b/.github/actions/watcher/action.yaml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ runs:
       name: Compile e-dant/watcher
       run: |
         mkdir watcher
-        gh release download --repo e-dant/watcher -A tar.gz -O - | tar -xz -C watcher --strip-components 1
+        gh release download 0.13.2 --repo e-dant/watcher -A tar.gz -O - | tar -xz -C watcher --strip-components 1
         cd watcher
         cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
         cmake --build build
diff --git a/caddy/admin.go b/caddy/admin.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2be765b01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/caddy/admin.go
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+package caddy
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
+	"github.com/dunglas/frankenphp"
+	"net/http"
+)
+
+type FrankenPHPAdmin struct{}
+
+// if the id starts with "admin.api" the module will register AdminRoutes via module.Routes()
+func (FrankenPHPAdmin) CaddyModule() caddy.ModuleInfo {
+	return caddy.ModuleInfo{
+		ID:  "admin.api.frankenphp",
+		New: func() caddy.Module { return new(FrankenPHPAdmin) },
+	}
+}
+
+// EXPERIMENTAL: These routes are not yet stable and may change in the future.
+func (admin FrankenPHPAdmin) Routes() []caddy.AdminRoute {
+	return []caddy.AdminRoute{
+		{
+			Pattern: "/frankenphp/workers/restart",
+			Handler: caddy.AdminHandlerFunc(admin.restartWorkers),
+		},
+		{
+			Pattern: "/frankenphp/threads",
+			Handler: caddy.AdminHandlerFunc(admin.threads),
+		},
+	}
+}
+
+func (admin *FrankenPHPAdmin) restartWorkers(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) error {
+	if r.Method != http.MethodPost {
+		return admin.error(http.StatusMethodNotAllowed, fmt.Errorf("method not allowed"))
+	}
+
+	frankenphp.RestartWorkers()
+	caddy.Log().Info("workers restarted from admin api")
+	admin.success(w, "workers restarted successfully\n")
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (admin *FrankenPHPAdmin) threads(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) error {
+	debugState := frankenphp.DebugState()
+	prettyJson, err := json.MarshalIndent(debugState, "", "    ")
+	if err != nil {
+		return admin.error(http.StatusInternalServerError, err)
+	}
+
+	return admin.success(w, string(prettyJson))
+}
+
+func (admin *FrankenPHPAdmin) success(w http.ResponseWriter, message string) error {
+	w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+	_, err := w.Write([]byte(message))
+	return err
+}
+
+func (admin *FrankenPHPAdmin) error(statusCode int, err error) error {
+	return caddy.APIError{HTTPStatus: statusCode, Err: err}
+}
diff --git a/caddy/admin_test.go b/caddy/admin_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4a970ffda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/caddy/admin_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,215 @@
+package caddy_test
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"io"
+	"net/http"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/caddytest"
+	"github.com/dunglas/frankenphp"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestRestartWorkerViaAdminApi(t *testing.T) {
+	tester := caddytest.NewTester(t)
+	tester.InitServer(`
+		{
+			skip_install_trust
+			admin localhost:2999
+			http_port `+testPort+`
+
+			frankenphp {
+				worker ../testdata/worker-with-counter.php 1
+			}
+		}
+
+		localhost:`+testPort+` {
+			route {
+				root ../testdata
+				rewrite worker-with-counter.php
+				php
+			}
+		}
+		`, "caddyfile")
+
+	tester.AssertGetResponse("http://localhost:"+testPort+"/", http.StatusOK, "requests:1")
+	tester.AssertGetResponse("http://localhost:"+testPort+"/", http.StatusOK, "requests:2")
+
+	assertAdminResponse(t, tester, "POST", "workers/restart", http.StatusOK, "workers restarted successfully\n")
+
+	tester.AssertGetResponse("http://localhost:"+testPort+"/", http.StatusOK, "requests:1")
+}
+
+func TestShowTheCorrectThreadDebugStatus(t *testing.T) {
+	tester := caddytest.NewTester(t)
+	tester.InitServer(`
+		{
+			skip_install_trust
+			admin localhost:2999
+			http_port `+testPort+`
+
+			frankenphp {
+				num_threads 3
+				max_threads 6
+				worker ../testdata/worker-with-counter.php 1
+				worker ../testdata/index.php 1
+			}
+		}
+
+		localhost:`+testPort+` {
+			route {
+				root ../testdata
+				rewrite worker-with-counter.php
+				php
+			}
+		}
+		`, "caddyfile")
+
+	debugState := getDebugState(t, tester)
+
+	// assert that the correct threads are present in the thread info
+	assert.Equal(t, debugState.ThreadDebugStates[0].State, "ready")
+	assert.Contains(t, debugState.ThreadDebugStates[1].Name, "worker-with-counter.php")
+	assert.Contains(t, debugState.ThreadDebugStates[2].Name, "index.php")
+	assert.Equal(t, debugState.ReservedThreadCount, 3)
+	assert.Len(t, debugState.ThreadDebugStates, 3)
+}
+
+func TestAutoScaleWorkerThreads(t *testing.T) {
+	wg := sync.WaitGroup{}
+	maxTries := 10
+	requestsPerTry := 200
+	tester := caddytest.NewTester(t)
+	tester.InitServer(`
+		{
+			skip_install_trust
+			admin localhost:2999
+			http_port `+testPort+`
+
+			frankenphp {
+				max_threads 10
+				num_threads 2
+				worker ../testdata/sleep.php 1
+			}
+		}
+
+		localhost:`+testPort+` {
+			route {
+				root ../testdata
+				rewrite sleep.php
+				php
+			}
+		}
+		`, "caddyfile")
+
+	// spam an endpoint that simulates IO
+	endpoint := "http://localhost:" + testPort + "/?sleep=2&work=1000"
+	amountOfThreads := len(getDebugState(t, tester).ThreadDebugStates)
+
+	// try to spawn the additional threads by spamming the server
+	for tries := 0; tries < maxTries; tries++ {
+		wg.Add(requestsPerTry)
+		for i := 0; i < requestsPerTry; i++ {
+			go func() {
+				tester.AssertGetResponse(endpoint, http.StatusOK, "slept for 2 ms and worked for 1000 iterations")
+				wg.Done()
+			}()
+		}
+		wg.Wait()
+
+		amountOfThreads = len(getDebugState(t, tester).ThreadDebugStates)
+		if amountOfThreads > 2 {
+			break
+		}
+	}
+
+	// assert that there are now more threads than before
+	assert.NotEqual(t, amountOfThreads, 2)
+}
+
+// Note this test requires at least 2x40MB available memory for the process
+func TestAutoScaleRegularThreadsOnAutomaticThreadLimit(t *testing.T) {
+	wg := sync.WaitGroup{}
+	maxTries := 10
+	requestsPerTry := 200
+	tester := caddytest.NewTester(t)
+	tester.InitServer(`
+		{
+			skip_install_trust
+			admin localhost:2999
+			http_port `+testPort+`
+
+			frankenphp {
+				max_threads auto
+				num_threads 1
+				php_ini memory_limit 40M # a reasonable limit for the test
+			}
+		}
+
+		localhost:`+testPort+` {
+			route {
+				root ../testdata
+				php
+			}
+		}
+		`, "caddyfile")
+
+	// spam an endpoint that simulates IO
+	endpoint := "http://localhost:" + testPort + "/sleep.php?sleep=2&work=1000"
+	amountOfThreads := len(getDebugState(t, tester).ThreadDebugStates)
+
+	// try to spawn the additional threads by spamming the server
+	for tries := 0; tries < maxTries; tries++ {
+		wg.Add(requestsPerTry)
+		for i := 0; i < requestsPerTry; i++ {
+			go func() {
+				tester.AssertGetResponse(endpoint, http.StatusOK, "slept for 2 ms and worked for 1000 iterations")
+				wg.Done()
+			}()
+		}
+		wg.Wait()
+
+		amountOfThreads = len(getDebugState(t, tester).ThreadDebugStates)
+		if amountOfThreads > 1 {
+			break
+		}
+	}
+
+	// assert that there are now more threads present
+	assert.NotEqual(t, amountOfThreads, 1)
+}
+
+func assertAdminResponse(t *testing.T, tester *caddytest.Tester, method string, path string, expectedStatus int, expectedBody string) {
+	adminUrl := "http://localhost:2999/frankenphp/"
+	r, err := http.NewRequest(method, adminUrl+path, nil)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	if expectedBody == "" {
+		_ = tester.AssertResponseCode(r, expectedStatus)
+		return
+	}
+	_, _ = tester.AssertResponse(r, expectedStatus, expectedBody)
+}
+
+func getAdminResponseBody(t *testing.T, tester *caddytest.Tester, method string, path string) string {
+	adminUrl := "http://localhost:2999/frankenphp/"
+	r, err := http.NewRequest(method, adminUrl+path, nil)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	resp := tester.AssertResponseCode(r, http.StatusOK)
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+	bytes, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	return string(bytes)
+}
+
+func getDebugState(t *testing.T, tester *caddytest.Tester) frankenphp.FrankenPHPDebugState {
+	threadStates := getAdminResponseBody(t, tester, "GET", "threads")
+
+	var debugStates frankenphp.FrankenPHPDebugState
+	err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(threadStates), &debugStates)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	return debugStates
+}
diff --git a/caddy/caddy.go b/caddy/caddy.go
index 19657578d..c72db244e 100644
--- a/caddy/caddy.go
+++ b/caddy/caddy.go
@@ -27,9 +27,12 @@ import (
 
 const defaultDocumentRoot = "public"
 
+var iniError = errors.New("'php_ini' must be in the format: php_ini \"<key>\" \"<value>\"")
+
 func init() {
 	caddy.RegisterModule(FrankenPHPApp{})
 	caddy.RegisterModule(FrankenPHPModule{})
+	caddy.RegisterModule(FrankenPHPAdmin{})
 
 	httpcaddyfile.RegisterGlobalOption("frankenphp", parseGlobalOption)
 
@@ -56,8 +59,12 @@ type workerConfig struct {
 type FrankenPHPApp struct {
 	// NumThreads sets the number of PHP threads to start. Default: 2x the number of available CPUs.
 	NumThreads int `json:"num_threads,omitempty"`
+	// MaxThreads limits how many threads can be started at runtime. Default 2x NumThreads
+	MaxThreads int `json:"max_threads,omitempty"`
 	// Workers configures the worker scripts to start.
 	Workers []workerConfig `json:"workers,omitempty"`
+	// Overwrites the default php ini configuration
+	PhpIni map[string]string `json:"php_ini,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // CaddyModule returns the Caddy module information.
@@ -72,7 +79,13 @@ func (f *FrankenPHPApp) Start() error {
 	repl := caddy.NewReplacer()
 	logger := caddy.Log()
 
-	opts := []frankenphp.Option{frankenphp.WithNumThreads(f.NumThreads), frankenphp.WithLogger(logger), frankenphp.WithMetrics(metrics)}
+	opts := []frankenphp.Option{
+		frankenphp.WithNumThreads(f.NumThreads),
+		frankenphp.WithMaxThreads(f.MaxThreads),
+		frankenphp.WithLogger(logger),
+		frankenphp.WithMetrics(metrics),
+		frankenphp.WithPhpIni(f.PhpIni),
+	}
 	for _, w := range f.Workers {
 		opts = append(opts, frankenphp.WithWorkers(repl.ReplaceKnown(w.FileName, ""), w.Num, w.Env, w.Watch))
 	}
@@ -118,6 +131,58 @@ func (f *FrankenPHPApp) UnmarshalCaddyfile(d *caddyfile.Dispenser) error {
 				}
 
 				f.NumThreads = v
+			case "max_threads":
+				if !d.NextArg() {
+					return d.ArgErr()
+				}
+
+				if d.Val() == "auto" {
+					f.MaxThreads = -1
+					continue
+				}
+
+				v, err := strconv.ParseUint(d.Val(), 10, 32)
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+
+				f.MaxThreads = int(v)
+			case "php_ini":
+				parseIniLine := func(d *caddyfile.Dispenser) error {
+					key := d.Val()
+					if !d.NextArg() {
+						return iniError
+					}
+					if f.PhpIni == nil {
+						f.PhpIni = make(map[string]string)
+					}
+					f.PhpIni[key] = d.Val()
+					if d.NextArg() {
+						return iniError
+					}
+
+					return nil
+				}
+
+				isBlock := false
+				for d.NextBlock(1) {
+					isBlock = true
+					err := parseIniLine(d)
+					if err != nil {
+						return err
+					}
+				}
+
+				if !isBlock {
+					if !d.NextArg() {
+						return iniError
+					}
+					err := parseIniLine(d)
+					if err != nil {
+						return err
+					}
+				}
+
 			case "worker":
 				wc := workerConfig{}
 				if d.NextArg() {
@@ -184,6 +249,10 @@ func (f *FrankenPHPApp) UnmarshalCaddyfile(d *caddyfile.Dispenser) error {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if f.MaxThreads > 0 && f.NumThreads > 0 && f.MaxThreads < f.NumThreads {
+		return errors.New("'max_threads' must be greater than or equal to 'num_threads'")
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/caddy/caddy_test.go b/caddy/caddy_test.go
index 71880fb5a..b9b65e9e6 100644
--- a/caddy/caddy_test.go
+++ b/caddy/caddy_test.go
@@ -616,3 +616,71 @@ func TestAllDefinedServerVars(t *testing.T) {
 		expectedBody,
 	)
 }
+
+func TestPHPIniConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
+	tester := caddytest.NewTester(t)
+	tester.InitServer(`
+		{
+			skip_install_trust
+			admin localhost:2999
+			http_port `+testPort+`
+
+			frankenphp {
+				num_threads 2
+				worker ../testdata/ini.php 1
+				php_ini max_execution_time 100
+				php_ini memory_limit 10000000
+			}
+		}
+
+		localhost:`+testPort+` {
+			route {
+				root ../testdata
+				php
+			}
+		}
+		`, "caddyfile")
+
+	testSingleIniConfiguration(tester, "max_execution_time", "100")
+	testSingleIniConfiguration(tester, "memory_limit", "10000000")
+}
+
+func TestPHPIniBlockConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
+	tester := caddytest.NewTester(t)
+	tester.InitServer(`
+		{
+			skip_install_trust
+			admin localhost:2999
+			http_port `+testPort+`
+
+			frankenphp {
+				num_threads 1
+				php_ini {
+					max_execution_time 15
+					memory_limit 20000000
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		localhost:`+testPort+` {
+			route {
+				root ../testdata
+				php
+			}
+		}
+		`, "caddyfile")
+
+	testSingleIniConfiguration(tester, "max_execution_time", "15")
+	testSingleIniConfiguration(tester, "memory_limit", "20000000")
+}
+
+func testSingleIniConfiguration(tester *caddytest.Tester, key string, value string) {
+	// test twice to ensure the ini setting is not lost
+	for i := 0; i < 2; i++ {
+		tester.AssertGetResponse(
+			"http://localhost:"+testPort+"/ini.php?key="+key,
+			http.StatusOK,
+			key+":"+value,
+		)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/caddy/watcher_test.go b/caddy/watcher_test.go
index aad782c54..63801b870 100644
--- a/caddy/watcher_test.go
+++ b/caddy/watcher_test.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ func TestWorkerWithInactiveWatcher(t *testing.T) {
 
 			frankenphp {
 				worker {
-					file ../testdata/worker-with-watcher.php
+					file ../testdata/worker-with-counter.php
 					num 1
 					watch ./**/*.php
 				}
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ func TestWorkerWithInactiveWatcher(t *testing.T) {
 
 		localhost:`+testPort+` {
 			root ../testdata
-			rewrite worker-with-watcher.php
+			rewrite worker-with-counter.php
 			php
 		}
 		`, "caddyfile")
diff --git a/debugstate.go b/debugstate.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c6d412b93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debugstate.go
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+package frankenphp
+
+import (
+	"net/http"
+	"time"
+)
+
+type ThreadDebugState struct {
+	Index                      int
+	Name                       string
+	State                      string
+	IsHandlingRequest          bool
+	Path                       string
+	InRequestSinceMilliseconds int64
+	WaitingSinceMilliseconds   int64
+}
+
+type FrankenPHPDebugState struct {
+	ThreadDebugStates   []ThreadDebugState
+	ReservedThreadCount int
+}
+
+// EXPERIMENTAL: DebugState prints the state of all PHP threads - debugging purposes only
+func DebugState() FrankenPHPDebugState {
+	fullState := FrankenPHPDebugState{
+		ThreadDebugStates:   make([]ThreadDebugState, 0, len(phpThreads)),
+		ReservedThreadCount: 0,
+	}
+	for _, thread := range phpThreads {
+		if thread.state.is(stateReserved) {
+			fullState.ReservedThreadCount++
+			continue
+		}
+		fullState.ThreadDebugStates = append(fullState.ThreadDebugStates, threadDebugState(thread))
+	}
+
+	return fullState
+}
+
+// threadDebugState creates a small jsonable status message for debugging purposes
+func threadDebugState(thread *phpThread) ThreadDebugState {
+	debugState := ThreadDebugState{
+		Index:                    thread.threadIndex,
+		Name:                     thread.handler.name(),
+		State:                    thread.state.name(),
+		WaitingSinceMilliseconds: thread.state.waitTime(),
+	}
+
+	var r *http.Request
+	if r = thread.getActiveRequestSafely(); r == nil {
+		return debugState
+	}
+
+	fc := r.Context().Value(contextKey).(*FrankenPHPContext)
+	if fc.originalRequest != nil {
+		debugState.Path = fc.originalRequest.URL.Path
+	} else {
+		debugState.Path = r.URL.Path
+	}
+
+	if fc.responseWriter != nil {
+		debugState.IsHandlingRequest = true
+		debugState.InRequestSinceMilliseconds = time.Since(fc.startedAt).Milliseconds()
+	}
+
+	return debugState
+}
diff --git a/dev.Dockerfile b/dev.Dockerfile
index 9493e92d2..974ea7b1f 100644
--- a/dev.Dockerfile
+++ b/dev.Dockerfile
@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@ WORKDIR /usr/local/src/watcher
 RUN git clone https://github.com/e-dant/watcher . && \
 	cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release && \
 	cmake --build build/ && \
-	cmake --install build
+	cmake --install build && \
+	ldconfig
 
 WORKDIR /go/src/app
 COPY . .
diff --git a/docs/config.md b/docs/config.md
index 07034aefe..720f102c6 100644
--- a/docs/config.md
+++ b/docs/config.md
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ Optionally, the number of threads to create and [worker scripts](worker.md) to s
 {
 	frankenphp {
 		num_threads <num_threads> # Sets the number of PHP threads to start. Default: 2x the number of available CPUs.
+		max_threads <num_threads> # Limits the number of additional PHP threads that can be started at runtime. Default: num_threads. Can be set to 'auto'.
+		php_ini <key> <value> # Set a php.ini directive. Can be used several times to set multiple directives.
 		worker {
 			file <path> # Sets the path to the worker script.
 			num <num> # Sets the number of PHP threads to start, defaults to 2x the number of available CPUs.
@@ -227,6 +229,23 @@ To load [additional PHP configuration files](https://www.php.net/manual/en/confi
 the `PHP_INI_SCAN_DIR` environment variable can be used.
 When set, PHP will load all the file with the `.ini` extension present in the given directories.
 
+You can also change the PHP configuration using the `php_ini` directive in the `Caddyfile`:
+
+```caddyfile
+{
+    frankenphp {
+        php_ini memory_limit 256M
+
+        # or
+
+        php_ini {
+            memory_limit 256M
+            max_execution_time 15
+        }
+    }
+}
+```
+
 ## Enable the Debug Mode
 
 When using the Docker image, set the `CADDY_GLOBAL_OPTIONS` environment variable to `debug` to enable the debug mode:
diff --git a/docs/performance.md b/docs/performance.md
index 39fc97638..6e6d55e6a 100644
--- a/docs/performance.md
+++ b/docs/performance.md
@@ -16,6 +16,16 @@ To find the right values, it's best to run load tests simulating real traffic.
 To configure the number of threads, use the `num_threads` option of the `php_server` and `php` directives.
 To change the number of workers, use the `num` option of the `worker` section of the `frankenphp` directive.
 
+### `max_threads`
+
+While it's always better to know exactly what your traffic will look like, real-life applications tend to be more
+unpredictable. The `max_threads` allows FrankenPHP to automatically spawn additional threads at runtime up to the specified limit.
+`max_threads` can help you
+figure out how many threads you need to handle your traffic and can make the server more resilient to latency spikes.
+If set to `auto`, the limit will be estimated based on the `memory_limit` in your `php.ini`. If not able to do so,
+`auto` will instead default to 2x `num_threads`.
+`max_threads is similar to PHP FPM's [pm.max_children](https://www.php.net/manual/en/install.fpm.configuration.php#pm.max-children).
+
 ## Worker Mode
 
 Enabling [the worker mode](worker.md) dramatically improves performance,
diff --git a/docs/ru/CONTRIBUTING.md b/docs/ru/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 045dc1b04..d3e4e6f59 100644
--- a/docs/ru/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/docs/ru/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -211,4 +211,4 @@ strace -e 'trace=!futex,epoll_ctl,epoll_pwait,tgkill,rt_sigreturn' -p 1
 5. Создайте Pull Request с переводом.
 6. В [репозитории сайта](https://github.com/dunglas/frankenphp-website/tree/main) скопируйте и переведите файлы в папках `content/`, `data/` и `i18n/`.
 7. Переведите значения в созданных YAML-файлах.
-8. Откройте Pull Request в репозитории сайта.
\ No newline at end of file
+8. Откройте Pull Request в репозитории сайта.
diff --git a/docs/ru/README.md b/docs/ru/README.md
index f66040514..abcfb3eb8 100644
--- a/docs/ru/README.md
+++ b/docs/ru/README.md
@@ -83,4 +83,4 @@ frankenphp php-cli /path/to/your/script.php
 * [WordPress](https://github.com/StephenMiracle/frankenwp)
 * [Drupal](https://github.com/dunglas/frankenphp-drupal)
 * [Joomla](https://github.com/alexandreelise/frankenphp-joomla)
-* [TYPO3](https://github.com/ochorocho/franken-typo3)
\ No newline at end of file
+* [TYPO3](https://github.com/ochorocho/franken-typo3)
diff --git a/docs/ru/config.md b/docs/ru/config.md
index 943e591e0..d1f948a30 100644
--- a/docs/ru/config.md
+++ b/docs/ru/config.md
@@ -229,4 +229,4 @@ docker run -v $PWD:/app/public \
     -e CADDY_GLOBAL_OPTIONS=debug \
     -p 80:80 -p 443:443 -p 443:443/udp \
     dunglas/frankenphp
-```
\ No newline at end of file
+```
diff --git a/docs/ru/docker.md b/docs/ru/docker.md
index c107d6787..dcf0fa46e 100644
--- a/docs/ru/docker.md
+++ b/docs/ru/docker.md
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ FROM dunglas/frankenphp AS runner
 # Заменяем официальный бинарный файл на пользовательский с добавленными модулями
 COPY --from=builder /usr/local/bin/frankenphp /usr/local/bin/frankenphp
 ```
+
 Образ `builder`, предоставляемый FrankenPHP, содержит скомпилированную версию `libphp`.  
 [Образы builder](https://hub.docker.com/r/dunglas/frankenphp/tags?name=builder) доступны для всех версий FrankenPHP и PHP, как для Debian, так и для Alpine.
 
@@ -197,4 +198,4 @@ Docker-образы обновляются:
 Сборка запускается автоматически при каждом коммите в основную ветку GitHub-репозитория
 
 Теги с префиксом `latest*` указывают на актуальное состояние ветки `main`.  
-Также доступны теги в формате `sha-<git-commit-hash>`.
\ No newline at end of file
+Также доступны теги в формате `sha-<git-commit-hash>`.
diff --git a/docs/ru/early-hints.md b/docs/ru/early-hints.md
index ae12def66..e27c3b194 100644
--- a/docs/ru/early-hints.md
+++ b/docs/ru/early-hints.md
@@ -18,4 +18,4 @@ echo <<<'HTML'
 HTML;
 ```
 
-Early Hints поддерживается как в обычном, так и в [worker режиме](worker.md).  
\ No newline at end of file
+Early Hints поддерживается как в обычном, так и в [worker режиме](worker.md).
diff --git a/docs/ru/github-actions.md b/docs/ru/github-actions.md
index 9517381fd..aea7a80ef 100644
--- a/docs/ru/github-actions.md
+++ b/docs/ru/github-actions.md
@@ -27,4 +27,4 @@
 1. Создайте новый тег в репозитории.
 2. GitHub Actions соберёт образ и выполнит тесты.
 3. Если сборка пройдёт успешно, образ будет отправлен в реестр с именем тега (например, `v1.2.3` и `v1.2` будут созданы).
-4. Также будет обновлён тег `latest`.
\ No newline at end of file
+4. Также будет обновлён тег `latest`.
diff --git a/docs/ru/known-issues.md b/docs/ru/known-issues.md
index 6c7834410..af92ba4b7 100644
--- a/docs/ru/known-issues.md
+++ b/docs/ru/known-issues.md
@@ -137,4 +137,4 @@ error:0A000086:SSL routines::certificate verify failed
 # Установите переменные окружения для TLS-сертификатов
 export SSL_CERT_FILE=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
 export SSL_CERT_DIR=/etc/ssl/certs
-```
\ No newline at end of file
+```
diff --git a/docs/ru/laravel.md b/docs/ru/laravel.md
index 115d23ae0..b0274fc4e 100644
--- a/docs/ru/laravel.md
+++ b/docs/ru/laravel.md
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ php artisan octane:frankenphp
 
 Можно даже упаковать приложения Laravel Octane как автономный бинарный файл!
 
-Для этого [установите Octane правильно](#laravel-octane) и следуйте шагам, описанным в [предыдущем разделе](#laravel-приложения-как-standalone-бинарники).
+Для этого [установите Octane правильно](#laravel-octane) и следуйте шагам, описанным в предыдущем разделе.
 
 Затем, чтобы запустить FrankenPHP в worker-режиме через Octane, выполните:
 
@@ -173,4 +173,4 @@ PATH="$PWD:$PATH" frankenphp php-cli artisan octane:frankenphp
 ```
 
 > [!CAUTION]
-> Для работы команды автономный бинарник **обязательно** должен быть назван `frankenphp`, так как Octane требует наличия программы с именем `frankenphp` в PATH.
\ No newline at end of file
+> Для работы команды автономный бинарник **обязательно** должен быть назван `frankenphp`, так как Octane требует наличия программы с именем `frankenphp` в PATH.
diff --git a/docs/ru/metrics.md b/docs/ru/metrics.md
index 684604ac9..19f1160ac 100644
--- a/docs/ru/metrics.md
+++ b/docs/ru/metrics.md
@@ -12,4 +12,4 @@
 - `frankenphp_total_threads`: Общее количество потоков PHP.
 - `frankenphp_busy_threads`: Количество потоков PHP, которые в данный момент обрабатывают запрос (работающие worker-скрипты всегда используют поток).
 
-Для метрик worker-скриптов плейсхолдер `[worker]` заменяется на путь к Worker-скрипту, указанному в Caddyfile.
\ No newline at end of file
+Для метрик worker-скриптов плейсхолдер `[worker]` заменяется на путь к Worker-скрипту, указанному в Caddyfile.
diff --git a/docs/ru/production.md b/docs/ru/production.md
index be189fc6c..529b4a142 100644
--- a/docs/ru/production.md
+++ b/docs/ru/production.md
@@ -122,4 +122,4 @@ docker compose up -d --wait
 ## Деплой на несколько узлов
 
 Если вам нужно развернуть приложение на кластер машин, используйте [Docker Swarm](https://docs.docker.com/engine/swarm/stack-deploy/), который совместим с предоставленными файлами Compose.  
-Для деплоя на Kubernetes ознакомьтесь с [Helm-чартом API Platform](https://api-platform.com/docs/deployment/kubernetes/), который использует FrankenPHP.
\ No newline at end of file
+Для деплоя на Kubernetes ознакомьтесь с [Helm-чартом API Platform](https://api-platform.com/docs/deployment/kubernetes/), который использует FrankenPHP.
diff --git a/docs/ru/worker.md b/docs/ru/worker.md
index 40e3df696..e94a540ca 100644
--- a/docs/ru/worker.md
+++ b/docs/ru/worker.md
@@ -156,4 +156,4 @@ $handler = static function () use ($workerServer) {
 };
 
 // ...
-```
\ No newline at end of file
+```
diff --git a/docs/worker.md b/docs/worker.md
index ca121ef97..5935bfac0 100644
--- a/docs/worker.md
+++ b/docs/worker.md
@@ -128,6 +128,16 @@ A workaround to using this type of code in worker mode is to restart the worker
 
 The previous worker snippet allows configuring a maximum number of request to handle by setting an environment variable named `MAX_REQUESTS`.
 
+### Restart Workers Manually
+
+While it's possible to restart workers [on file changes](config.md#watching-for-file-changes), it's also possible to restart all workers
+gracefully via the [Caddy admin API](https://caddyserver.com/docs/api). If the admin is enabled in your
+[Caddyfile](config.md#caddyfile-config), you can ping the restart endpoint with a simple POST request like this:
+
+```console
+curl -X POST http://localhost:2019/frankenphp/workers/restart
+```
+
 ### Worker Failures
 
 If a worker script crashes with a non-zero exit code, FrankenPHP will restart it with an exponential backoff strategy.
diff --git a/frankenphp.c b/frankenphp.c
index 143c5ac83..a7a272338 100644
--- a/frankenphp.c
+++ b/frankenphp.c
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ typedef struct frankenphp_server_context {
   bool finished;
 } frankenphp_server_context;
 
-__thread bool should_filter_var = 0;
+bool should_filter_var = 0;
 __thread frankenphp_server_context *local_ctx = NULL;
 __thread uintptr_t thread_index;
 __thread zval *os_environment = NULL;
@@ -772,7 +772,8 @@ frankenphp_register_variable_from_request_info(zend_string *zKey, char *value,
     frankenphp_register_trusted_var(zKey, value, strlen(value),
                                     Z_ARRVAL_P(track_vars_array));
   } else if (must_be_present) {
-    frankenphp_register_trusted_var(zKey, "", 0, Z_ARRVAL_P(track_vars_array));
+    frankenphp_register_trusted_var(zKey, NULL, 0,
+                                    Z_ARRVAL_P(track_vars_array));
   }
 }
 
@@ -918,12 +919,6 @@ static void *php_thread(void *arg) {
 
   local_ctx = malloc(sizeof(frankenphp_server_context));
 
-  /* check if a default filter is set in php.ini and only filter if
-   * it is, this is deprecated and will be removed in PHP 9 */
-  char *default_filter;
-  cfg_get_string("filter.default", &default_filter);
-  should_filter_var = default_filter != NULL;
-
   // loop until Go signals to stop
   char *scriptName = NULL;
   while ((scriptName = go_frankenphp_before_script_execution(thread_index))) {
@@ -985,10 +980,22 @@ static void *php_main(void *arg) {
   memcpy(frankenphp_sapi_module.ini_entries, HARDCODED_INI,
          sizeof(HARDCODED_INI));
 #endif
+#else
+  /* overwrite php.ini with custom user settings */
+  char *php_ini_overrides = go_get_custom_php_ini();
+  if (php_ini_overrides != NULL) {
+    frankenphp_sapi_module.ini_entries = php_ini_overrides;
+  }
 #endif
 
   frankenphp_sapi_module.startup(&frankenphp_sapi_module);
 
+  /* check if a default filter is set in php.ini and only filter if
+   * it is, this is deprecated and will be removed in PHP 9 */
+  char *default_filter;
+  cfg_get_string("filter.default", &default_filter);
+  should_filter_var = default_filter != NULL;
+
   go_frankenphp_main_thread_is_ready();
 
   /* channel closed, shutdown gracefully */
@@ -1257,3 +1264,5 @@ int frankenphp_reset_opcache(void) {
   }
   return 0;
 }
+
+int frankenphp_get_current_memory_limit() { return PG(memory_limit); }
diff --git a/frankenphp.go b/frankenphp.go
index 3367351ee..29213c7ae 100644
--- a/frankenphp.go
+++ b/frankenphp.go
@@ -63,8 +63,7 @@ var (
 	ScriptExecutionError        = errors.New("error during PHP script execution")
 	NotRunningError             = errors.New("FrankenPHP is not running. For proper configuration visit: https://frankenphp.dev/docs/config/#caddyfile-config")
 
-	requestChan chan *http.Request
-	isRunning   bool
+	isRunning bool
 
 	loggerMu sync.RWMutex
 	logger   *zap.Logger
@@ -141,7 +140,8 @@ func clientHasClosed(r *http.Request) bool {
 // NewRequestWithContext creates a new FrankenPHP request context.
 func NewRequestWithContext(r *http.Request, opts ...RequestOption) (*http.Request, error) {
 	fc := &FrankenPHPContext{
-		done: make(chan interface{}),
+		done:      make(chan interface{}),
+		startedAt: time.Now(),
 	}
 	for _, o := range opts {
 		if err := o(fc); err != nil {
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ func Config() PHPConfig {
 // MaxThreads is internally used during tests. It is written to, but never read and may go away in the future.
 var MaxThreads int
 
-func calculateMaxThreads(opt *opt) (int, int, error) {
+func calculateMaxThreads(opt *opt) (int, int, int, error) {
 	maxProcs := runtime.GOMAXPROCS(0) * 2
 
 	var numWorkers int
@@ -266,13 +266,17 @@ func calculateMaxThreads(opt *opt) (int, int, error) {
 			opt.numThreads = maxProcs
 		}
 	} else if opt.numThreads <= numWorkers {
-		return opt.numThreads, numWorkers, NotEnoughThreads
+		return opt.numThreads, numWorkers, opt.maxThreads, NotEnoughThreads
+	}
+
+	if opt.maxThreads < opt.numThreads && opt.maxThreads > 0 {
+		opt.maxThreads = opt.numThreads
 	}
 
 	metrics.TotalThreads(opt.numThreads)
 	MaxThreads = opt.numThreads
 
-	return opt.numThreads, numWorkers, nil
+	return opt.numThreads, numWorkers, opt.maxThreads, nil
 }
 
 // Init starts the PHP runtime and the configured workers.
@@ -312,7 +316,7 @@ func Init(options ...Option) error {
 		metrics = opt.metrics
 	}
 
-	totalThreadCount, workerThreadCount, err := calculateMaxThreads(opt)
+	totalThreadCount, workerThreadCount, maxThreadCount, err := calculateMaxThreads(opt)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -332,11 +336,13 @@ func Init(options ...Option) error {
 		logger.Warn(`ZTS is not enabled, only 1 thread will be available, recompile PHP using the "--enable-zts" configuration option or performance will be degraded`)
 	}
 
-	requestChan = make(chan *http.Request, opt.numThreads)
-	if err := initPHPThreads(totalThreadCount); err != nil {
+	mainThread, err := initPHPThreads(totalThreadCount, maxThreadCount, opt.phpIni)
+	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	regularRequestChan = make(chan *http.Request, totalThreadCount-workerThreadCount)
+	regularThreads = make([]*phpThread, 0, totalThreadCount-workerThreadCount)
 	for i := 0; i < totalThreadCount-workerThreadCount; i++ {
 		thread := getInactivePHPThread()
 		convertToRegularThread(thread)
@@ -346,8 +352,10 @@ func Init(options ...Option) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	initAutoScaling(mainThread)
+
 	if c := logger.Check(zapcore.InfoLevel, "FrankenPHP started 🐘"); c != nil {
-		c.Write(zap.String("php_version", Version().Version), zap.Int("num_threads", totalThreadCount))
+		c.Write(zap.String("php_version", Version().Version), zap.Int("num_threads", mainThread.numThreads), zap.Int("max_threads", mainThread.maxThreads))
 	}
 	if EmbeddedAppPath != "" {
 		if c := logger.Check(zapcore.InfoLevel, "embedded PHP app 📦"); c != nil {
@@ -365,17 +373,18 @@ func Shutdown() {
 	}
 
 	drainWorkers()
+	drainAutoScaling()
 	drainPHPThreads()
+
 	metrics.Shutdown()
-	requestChan = nil
 
 	// Remove the installed app
 	if EmbeddedAppPath != "" {
 		_ = os.RemoveAll(EmbeddedAppPath)
 	}
 
-	logger.Debug("FrankenPHP shut down")
 	isRunning = false
+	logger.Debug("FrankenPHP shut down")
 }
 
 func getLogger() *zap.Logger {
@@ -468,7 +477,6 @@ func ServeHTTP(responseWriter http.ResponseWriter, request *http.Request) error
 	}
 
 	fc.responseWriter = responseWriter
-	fc.startedAt = time.Now()
 
 	// Detect if a worker is available to handle this request
 	if worker, ok := workers[fc.scriptFilename]; ok {
@@ -476,15 +484,8 @@ func ServeHTTP(responseWriter http.ResponseWriter, request *http.Request) error
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	metrics.StartRequest()
-
-	select {
-	case <-mainThread.done:
-	case requestChan <- request:
-		<-fc.done
-	}
-
-	metrics.StopRequest()
+	// If no worker was availabe send the request to non-worker threads
+	handleRequestWithRegularPHPThreads(request, fc)
 
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/frankenphp.h b/frankenphp.h
index fb9a093f1..b8c255040 100644
--- a/frankenphp.h
+++ b/frankenphp.h
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ void frankenphp_register_variable_safe(char *key, char *var, size_t val_len,
 zend_string *frankenphp_init_persistent_string(const char *string, size_t len);
 void frankenphp_release_zend_string(zend_string *z_string);
 int frankenphp_reset_opcache(void);
+int frankenphp_get_current_memory_limit();
 
 void frankenphp_register_single(zend_string *z_key, char *value, size_t val_len,
                                 zval *track_vars_array);
diff --git a/internal/cpu/cpu_unix.go b/internal/cpu/cpu_unix.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4d1821522
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/cpu/cpu_unix.go
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+package cpu
+
+// #include <time.h>
+import "C"
+import (
+	"runtime"
+	"time"
+)
+
+var cpuCount = runtime.GOMAXPROCS(0)
+
+// ProbeCPUs probes the CPU usage of the process
+// if CPUs are not busy, most threads are likely waiting for I/O, so we should scale
+// if CPUs are already busy we won't gain much by scaling and want to avoid the overhead of doing so
+func ProbeCPUs(probeTime time.Duration, maxCPUUsage float64, abort chan struct{}) bool {
+	var cpuStart, cpuEnd C.struct_timespec
+
+	// note: clock_gettime is a POSIX function
+	// on Windows we'd need to use QueryPerformanceCounter instead
+	start := time.Now()
+	C.clock_gettime(C.CLOCK_PROCESS_CPUTIME_ID, &cpuStart)
+
+	select {
+	case <-abort:
+		return false
+	case <-time.After(probeTime):
+	}
+
+	C.clock_gettime(C.CLOCK_PROCESS_CPUTIME_ID, &cpuEnd)
+	elapsedTime := float64(time.Since(start).Nanoseconds())
+	elapsedCpuTime := float64(cpuEnd.tv_sec-cpuStart.tv_sec)*1e9 + float64(cpuEnd.tv_nsec-cpuStart.tv_nsec)
+	cpuUsage := elapsedCpuTime / elapsedTime / float64(cpuCount)
+
+	return cpuUsage < maxCPUUsage
+}
diff --git a/internal/cpu/cpu_windows.go b/internal/cpu/cpu_windows.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d09d55241
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/cpu/cpu_windows.go
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+package cpu
+
+import (
+	"time"
+)
+
+// ProbeCPUs fallback that always determines that the CPU limits are not reached
+func ProbeCPUs(probeTime time.Duration, maxCPUUsage float64, abort chan struct{}) bool {
+	select {
+	case <-abort:
+		return false
+	case <-time.After(probeTime):
+		return true
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/memory/memory_linux.go b/internal/memory/memory_linux.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fc95d199d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/memory/memory_linux.go
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+package memory
+
+import "syscall"
+
+func TotalSysMemory() uint64 {
+	sysInfo := &syscall.Sysinfo_t{}
+	err := syscall.Sysinfo(sysInfo)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0
+	}
+
+	return uint64(sysInfo.Totalram) * uint64(sysInfo.Unit)
+}
diff --git a/internal/memory/memory_others.go b/internal/memory/memory_others.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a06af7b1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/memory/memory_others.go
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+//go:build !linux
+
+package memory
+
+// TotalSysMemory returns 0 if the total system memory cannot be determined
+func TotalSysMemory() uint64 {
+	return 0
+}
diff --git a/metrics.go b/metrics.go
index 467e1a5dc..946383ae1 100644
--- a/metrics.go
+++ b/metrics.go
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ type Metrics interface {
 	// StartWorkerRequest collects started worker requests
 	StartWorkerRequest(name string)
 	Shutdown()
+	QueuedWorkerRequest(name string)
+	DequeuedWorkerRequest(name string)
+	QueuedRequest()
+	DequeuedRequest()
 }
 
 type nullMetrics struct{}
@@ -74,6 +78,13 @@ func (n nullMetrics) StartWorkerRequest(string) {
 func (n nullMetrics) Shutdown() {
 }
 
+func (n nullMetrics) QueuedWorkerRequest(name string) {}
+
+func (n nullMetrics) DequeuedWorkerRequest(name string) {}
+
+func (n nullMetrics) QueuedRequest()   {}
+func (n nullMetrics) DequeuedRequest() {}
+
 type PrometheusMetrics struct {
 	registry           prometheus.Registerer
 	totalThreads       prometheus.Counter
@@ -85,6 +96,8 @@ type PrometheusMetrics struct {
 	workerRestarts     map[string]prometheus.Counter
 	workerRequestTime  map[string]prometheus.Counter
 	workerRequestCount map[string]prometheus.Counter
+	workerQueueDepth   map[string]prometheus.Gauge
+	queueDepth         prometheus.Gauge
 	mu                 sync.Mutex
 }
 
@@ -213,6 +226,15 @@ func (m *PrometheusMetrics) TotalWorkers(name string, _ int) {
 		})
 		m.registry.MustRegister(m.workerRequestCount[identity])
 	}
+
+	if _, ok := m.workerQueueDepth[identity]; !ok {
+		m.workerQueueDepth[identity] = prometheus.NewGauge(prometheus.GaugeOpts{
+			Namespace: "frankenphp",
+			Subsystem: subsystem,
+			Name:      "worker_queue_depth",
+		})
+		m.registry.MustRegister(m.workerQueueDepth[identity])
+	}
 }
 
 func (m *PrometheusMetrics) TotalThreads(num int) {
@@ -244,9 +266,32 @@ func (m *PrometheusMetrics) StartWorkerRequest(name string) {
 	m.busyWorkers[name].Inc()
 }
 
+func (m *PrometheusMetrics) QueuedWorkerRequest(name string) {
+	if _, ok := m.workerQueueDepth[name]; !ok {
+		return
+	}
+	m.workerQueueDepth[name].Inc()
+}
+
+func (m *PrometheusMetrics) DequeuedWorkerRequest(name string) {
+	if _, ok := m.workerQueueDepth[name]; !ok {
+		return
+	}
+	m.workerQueueDepth[name].Dec()
+}
+
+func (m *PrometheusMetrics) QueuedRequest() {
+	m.queueDepth.Inc()
+}
+
+func (m *PrometheusMetrics) DequeuedRequest() {
+	m.queueDepth.Dec()
+}
+
 func (m *PrometheusMetrics) Shutdown() {
 	m.registry.Unregister(m.totalThreads)
 	m.registry.Unregister(m.busyThreads)
+	m.registry.Unregister(m.queueDepth)
 
 	for _, g := range m.totalWorkers {
 		m.registry.Unregister(g)
@@ -276,6 +321,10 @@ func (m *PrometheusMetrics) Shutdown() {
 		m.registry.Unregister(g)
 	}
 
+	for _, g := range m.workerQueueDepth {
+		m.registry.Unregister(g)
+	}
+
 	m.totalThreads = prometheus.NewCounter(prometheus.CounterOpts{
 		Name: "frankenphp_total_threads",
 		Help: "Total number of PHP threads",
@@ -291,9 +340,15 @@ func (m *PrometheusMetrics) Shutdown() {
 	m.workerRestarts = map[string]prometheus.Counter{}
 	m.workerCrashes = map[string]prometheus.Counter{}
 	m.readyWorkers = map[string]prometheus.Gauge{}
+	m.workerQueueDepth = map[string]prometheus.Gauge{}
+	m.queueDepth = prometheus.NewGauge(prometheus.GaugeOpts{
+		Name: "frankenphp_queue_depth",
+		Help: "Number of regular queued requests",
+	})
 
 	m.registry.MustRegister(m.totalThreads)
 	m.registry.MustRegister(m.busyThreads)
+	m.registry.MustRegister(m.queueDepth)
 }
 
 func getWorkerNameForMetrics(name string) string {
@@ -325,10 +380,16 @@ func NewPrometheusMetrics(registry prometheus.Registerer) *PrometheusMetrics {
 		workerRestarts:     map[string]prometheus.Counter{},
 		workerCrashes:      map[string]prometheus.Counter{},
 		readyWorkers:       map[string]prometheus.Gauge{},
+		workerQueueDepth:   map[string]prometheus.Gauge{},
+		queueDepth: prometheus.NewGauge(prometheus.GaugeOpts{
+			Name: "frankenphp_queue_depth",
+			Help: "Number of regular queued requests",
+		}),
 	}
 
 	m.registry.MustRegister(m.totalThreads)
 	m.registry.MustRegister(m.busyThreads)
+	m.registry.MustRegister(m.queueDepth)
 
 	return m
 }
diff --git a/metrics_test.go b/metrics_test.go
index 052226993..a35e0576c 100644
--- a/metrics_test.go
+++ b/metrics_test.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ func createPrometheusMetrics() *PrometheusMetrics {
 		workerRequestCount: make(map[string]prometheus.Counter),
 		workerCrashes:      make(map[string]prometheus.Counter),
 		workerRestarts:     make(map[string]prometheus.Counter),
+		workerQueueDepth:   make(map[string]prometheus.Gauge),
 		readyWorkers:       make(map[string]prometheus.Gauge),
 		mu:                 sync.Mutex{},
 	}
diff --git a/options.go b/options.go
index 724e75c8b..6d1a5ebd2 100644
--- a/options.go
+++ b/options.go
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@ type Option func(h *opt) error
 // If you change this, also update the Caddy module and the documentation.
 type opt struct {
 	numThreads int
+	maxThreads int
 	workers    []workerOpt
 	logger     *zap.Logger
 	metrics    Metrics
+	phpIni     map[string]string
 }
 
 type workerOpt struct {
@@ -33,6 +35,14 @@ func WithNumThreads(numThreads int) Option {
 	}
 }
 
+func WithMaxThreads(maxThreads int) Option {
+	return func(o *opt) error {
+		o.maxThreads = maxThreads
+
+		return nil
+	}
+}
+
 func WithMetrics(m Metrics) Option {
 	return func(o *opt) error {
 		o.metrics = m
@@ -58,3 +68,11 @@ func WithLogger(l *zap.Logger) Option {
 		return nil
 	}
 }
+
+// WithPhpIni configures user defined PHP ini settings.
+func WithPhpIni(overrides map[string]string) Option {
+	return func(o *opt) error {
+		o.phpIni = overrides
+		return nil
+	}
+}
diff --git a/phpmainthread.go b/phpmainthread.go
index ddc4778eb..dfb753be9 100644
--- a/phpmainthread.go
+++ b/phpmainthread.go
@@ -3,10 +3,13 @@ package frankenphp
 // #include "frankenphp.h"
 import "C"
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"sync"
 
+	"github.com/dunglas/frankenphp/internal/memory"
 	"github.com/dunglas/frankenphp/internal/phpheaders"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 )
 
 // represents the main PHP thread
@@ -15,6 +18,8 @@ type phpMainThread struct {
 	state           *threadState
 	done            chan struct{}
 	numThreads      int
+	maxThreads      int
+	phpIni          map[string]string
 	commonHeaders   map[string]*C.zend_string
 	knownServerKeys map[string]*C.zend_string
 }
@@ -24,63 +29,72 @@ var (
 	mainThread *phpMainThread
 )
 
-// reserve a fixed number of PHP threads on the Go side
-func initPHPThreads(numThreads int) error {
+// initPHPThreads starts the main PHP thread,
+// a fixed number of inactive PHP threads
+// and reserves a fixed number of possible PHP threads
+func initPHPThreads(numThreads int, numMaxThreads int, phpIni map[string]string) (*phpMainThread, error) {
 	mainThread = &phpMainThread{
 		state:      newThreadState(),
 		done:       make(chan struct{}),
 		numThreads: numThreads,
+		maxThreads: numMaxThreads,
+		phpIni:     phpIni,
 	}
-	phpThreads = make([]*phpThread, numThreads)
 
-	// initialize all threads as inactive
+	// initialize the first thread
 	// this needs to happen before starting the main thread
 	// since some extensions access environment variables on startup
-	for i := 0; i < numThreads; i++ {
-		phpThreads[i] = newPHPThread(i)
-		convertToInactiveThread(phpThreads[i])
-	}
+	// the threadIndex on the main thread defaults to 0 -> phpThreads[0].Pin(...)
+	initialThread := newPHPThread(0)
+	phpThreads = []*phpThread{initialThread}
 
 	if err := mainThread.start(); err != nil {
-		return err
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// initialize all other threads
+	phpThreads = make([]*phpThread, mainThread.maxThreads)
+	phpThreads[0] = initialThread
+	for i := 1; i < mainThread.maxThreads; i++ {
+		phpThreads[i] = newPHPThread(i)
 	}
 
 	// start the underlying C threads
 	ready := sync.WaitGroup{}
 	ready.Add(numThreads)
-	for _, thread := range phpThreads {
+	for i := 0; i < numThreads; i++ {
+		thread := phpThreads[i]
 		go func() {
-			if !C.frankenphp_new_php_thread(C.uintptr_t(thread.threadIndex)) {
-				logger.Panic("unable to create thread", zap.Int("threadIndex", thread.threadIndex))
-			}
-			thread.state.waitFor(stateInactive)
+			thread.boot()
 			ready.Done()
 		}()
 	}
 	ready.Wait()
 
-	return nil
+	return mainThread, nil
 }
 
 func drainPHPThreads() {
 	doneWG := sync.WaitGroup{}
 	doneWG.Add(len(phpThreads))
-	for _, thread := range phpThreads {
-		thread.handlerMu.Lock()
-		_ = thread.state.requestSafeStateChange(stateShuttingDown)
-		close(thread.drainChan)
-	}
+	mainThread.state.set(stateShuttingDown)
 	close(mainThread.done)
 	for _, thread := range phpThreads {
+		// shut down all reserved threads
+		if thread.state.compareAndSwap(stateReserved, stateDone) {
+			doneWG.Done()
+			continue
+		}
+		// shut down all active threads
 		go func(thread *phpThread) {
-			thread.state.waitFor(stateDone)
-			thread.handlerMu.Unlock()
+			thread.shutdown()
 			doneWG.Done()
 		}(thread)
 	}
+
 	doneWG.Wait()
-	mainThread.state.set(stateShuttingDown)
-	mainThread.state.waitFor(stateDone)
+	mainThread.state.set(stateDone)
+	mainThread.state.waitFor(stateReserved)
 	phpThreads = nil
 }
 
@@ -88,6 +102,7 @@ func (mainThread *phpMainThread) start() error {
 	if C.frankenphp_new_main_thread(C.int(mainThread.numThreads)) != 0 {
 		return MainThreadCreationError
 	}
+
 	mainThread.state.waitFor(stateReady)
 
 	// cache common request headers as zend_strings (HTTP_ACCEPT, HTTP_USER_AGENT, etc.)
@@ -111,16 +126,74 @@ func getInactivePHPThread() *phpThread {
 			return thread
 		}
 	}
-	panic("not enough threads reserved")
+
+	for _, thread := range phpThreads {
+		if thread.state.compareAndSwap(stateReserved, stateBootRequested) {
+			thread.boot()
+			return thread
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func getPHPThreadAtState(state stateID) *phpThread {
+	for _, thread := range phpThreads {
+		if thread.state.is(state) {
+			return thread
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
 }
 
 //export go_frankenphp_main_thread_is_ready
 func go_frankenphp_main_thread_is_ready() {
+	mainThread.setAutomaticMaxThreads()
+	if mainThread.maxThreads < mainThread.numThreads {
+		mainThread.maxThreads = mainThread.numThreads
+	}
+
 	mainThread.state.set(stateReady)
-	mainThread.state.waitFor(stateShuttingDown)
+	mainThread.state.waitFor(stateDone)
+}
+
+// max_threads = auto
+// setAutomaticMaxThreads estimates the amount of threads based on php.ini and system memory_limit
+// If unable to get the system's memory limit, simply double num_threads
+func (mainThread *phpMainThread) setAutomaticMaxThreads() {
+	if mainThread.maxThreads >= 0 {
+		return
+	}
+	perThreadMemoryLimit := int64(C.frankenphp_get_current_memory_limit())
+	totalSysMemory := memory.TotalSysMemory()
+	if perThreadMemoryLimit <= 0 || totalSysMemory == 0 {
+		mainThread.maxThreads = mainThread.numThreads * 2
+		return
+	}
+	maxAllowedThreads := totalSysMemory / uint64(perThreadMemoryLimit)
+	mainThread.maxThreads = int(maxAllowedThreads)
+
+	if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "Automatic thread limit"); c != nil {
+		c.Write(zap.Int("perThreadMemoryLimitMB", int(perThreadMemoryLimit/1024/1024)), zap.Int("maxThreads", mainThread.maxThreads))
+	}
 }
 
 //export go_frankenphp_shutdown_main_thread
 func go_frankenphp_shutdown_main_thread() {
-	mainThread.state.set(stateDone)
+	mainThread.state.set(stateReserved)
+}
+
+//export go_get_custom_php_ini
+func go_get_custom_php_ini() *C.char {
+	if mainThread.phpIni == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// pass the php.ini overrides to PHP before startup
+	// TODO: if needed this would also be possible on a per-thread basis
+	overrides := ""
+	for k, v := range mainThread.phpIni {
+		overrides += fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s\n", k, v)
+	}
+	return C.CString(overrides)
 }
diff --git a/phpmainthread_test.go b/phpmainthread_test.go
index a5de26f93..2a1705c03 100644
--- a/phpmainthread_test.go
+++ b/phpmainthread_test.go
@@ -18,8 +18,9 @@ import (
 var testDataPath, _ = filepath.Abs("./testdata")
 
 func TestStartAndStopTheMainThreadWithOneInactiveThread(t *testing.T) {
-	logger = zap.NewNop()                // the logger needs to not be nil
-	assert.NoError(t, initPHPThreads(1)) // reserve 1 thread
+	logger = zap.NewNop()               // the logger needs to not be nil
+	_, err := initPHPThreads(1, 1, nil) // boot 1 thread
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
 
 	assert.Len(t, phpThreads, 1)
 	assert.Equal(t, 0, phpThreads[0].threadIndex)
@@ -31,7 +32,8 @@ func TestStartAndStopTheMainThreadWithOneInactiveThread(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestTransitionRegularThreadToWorkerThread(t *testing.T) {
 	logger = zap.NewNop()
-	assert.NoError(t, initPHPThreads(1))
+	_, err := initPHPThreads(1, 1, nil)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
 
 	// transition to regular thread
 	convertToRegularThread(phpThreads[0])
@@ -54,7 +56,8 @@ func TestTransitionRegularThreadToWorkerThread(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestTransitionAThreadBetween2DifferentWorkers(t *testing.T) {
 	logger = zap.NewNop()
-	assert.NoError(t, initPHPThreads(1))
+	_, err := initPHPThreads(1, 1, nil)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
 	firstWorker := getDummyWorker("transition-worker-1.php")
 	secondWorker := getDummyWorker("transition-worker-2.php")
 
@@ -76,43 +79,39 @@ func TestTransitionAThreadBetween2DifferentWorkers(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Nil(t, phpThreads)
 }
 
+// try all possible handler transitions
+// takes around 200ms and is supposed to force race conditions
 func TestTransitionThreadsWhileDoingRequests(t *testing.T) {
 	numThreads := 10
 	numRequestsPerThread := 100
-	isRunning := atomic.Bool{}
-	isRunning.Store(true)
+	isDone := atomic.Bool{}
 	wg := sync.WaitGroup{}
 	worker1Path := testDataPath + "/transition-worker-1.php"
 	worker2Path := testDataPath + "/transition-worker-2.php"
 
 	assert.NoError(t, Init(
 		WithNumThreads(numThreads),
-		WithWorkers(worker1Path, 1, map[string]string{"ENV1": "foo"}, []string{}),
-		WithWorkers(worker2Path, 1, map[string]string{"ENV1": "foo"}, []string{}),
+		WithWorkers(worker1Path, 1, map[string]string{}, []string{}),
+		WithWorkers(worker2Path, 1, map[string]string{}, []string{}),
 		WithLogger(zap.NewNop()),
 	))
 
-	// randomly transition threads between regular, inactive and 2 worker threads
-	go func() {
-		for {
-			for i := 0; i < numThreads; i++ {
-				switch rand.IntN(4) {
-				case 0:
-					convertToRegularThread(phpThreads[i])
-				case 1:
-					convertToWorkerThread(phpThreads[i], workers[worker1Path])
-				case 2:
-					convertToWorkerThread(phpThreads[i], workers[worker2Path])
-				case 3:
-					convertToInactiveThread(phpThreads[i])
-				}
-				time.Sleep(time.Millisecond)
-				if !isRunning.Load() {
-					return
+	// try all possible permutations of transition, transition every ms
+	transitions := allPossibleTransitions(worker1Path, worker2Path)
+	for i := 0; i < numThreads; i++ {
+		go func(thread *phpThread, start int) {
+			for {
+				for j := start; j < len(transitions); j++ {
+					if isDone.Load() {
+						return
+					}
+					transitions[j](thread)
+					time.Sleep(time.Millisecond)
 				}
+				start = 0
 			}
-		}
-	}()
+		}(phpThreads[i], i)
+	}
 
 	// randomly do requests to the 3 endpoints
 	wg.Add(numThreads)
@@ -132,8 +131,9 @@ func TestTransitionThreadsWhileDoingRequests(t *testing.T) {
 		}(i)
 	}
 
+	// we are finished as soon as all 1000 requests are done
 	wg.Wait()
-	isRunning.Store(false)
+	isDone.Store(true)
 	Shutdown()
 }
 
@@ -176,3 +176,20 @@ func assertRequestBody(t *testing.T, url string, expected string) {
 	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
 	assert.Equal(t, expected, string(body))
 }
+
+// create a mix of possible transitions of workers and regular threads
+func allPossibleTransitions(worker1Path string, worker2Path string) []func(*phpThread) {
+	return []func(*phpThread){
+		convertToRegularThread,
+		func(thread *phpThread) { thread.shutdown() },
+		func(thread *phpThread) {
+			if thread.state.is(stateReserved) {
+				thread.boot()
+			}
+		},
+		func(thread *phpThread) { convertToWorkerThread(thread, workers[worker1Path]) },
+		convertToInactiveThread,
+		func(thread *phpThread) { convertToWorkerThread(thread, workers[worker2Path]) },
+		convertToInactiveThread,
+	}
+}
diff --git a/phpthread.go b/phpthread.go
index ebe8d8419..d66b43053 100644
--- a/phpthread.go
+++ b/phpthread.go
@@ -7,23 +7,26 @@ import (
 	"runtime"
 	"sync"
 	"unsafe"
+
+	"go.uber.org/zap"
 )
 
 // representation of the actual underlying PHP thread
 // identified by the index in the phpThreads slice
 type phpThread struct {
 	runtime.Pinner
-
 	threadIndex int
 	requestChan chan *http.Request
 	drainChan   chan struct{}
-	handlerMu   *sync.Mutex
+	handlerMu   sync.Mutex
+	requestMu   sync.Mutex
 	handler     threadHandler
 	state       *threadState
 }
 
 // interface that defines how the callbacks from the C thread should be handled
 type threadHandler interface {
+	name() string
 	beforeScriptExecution() string
 	afterScriptExecution(exitStatus int)
 	getActiveRequest() *http.Request
@@ -32,21 +35,55 @@ type threadHandler interface {
 func newPHPThread(threadIndex int) *phpThread {
 	return &phpThread{
 		threadIndex: threadIndex,
-		drainChan:   make(chan struct{}),
 		requestChan: make(chan *http.Request),
-		handlerMu:   &sync.Mutex{},
 		state:       newThreadState(),
 	}
 }
 
+// boot starts the underlying PHP thread
+func (thread *phpThread) boot() {
+	// thread must be in reserved state to boot
+	if !thread.state.compareAndSwap(stateReserved, stateBooting) && !thread.state.compareAndSwap(stateBootRequested, stateBooting) {
+		logger.Panic("thread is not in reserved state: " + thread.state.name())
+		return
+	}
+
+	// boot threads as inactive
+	thread.handlerMu.Lock()
+	thread.handler = &inactiveThread{thread: thread}
+	thread.drainChan = make(chan struct{})
+	thread.handlerMu.Unlock()
+
+	// start the actual posix thread - TODO: try this with go threads instead
+	if !C.frankenphp_new_php_thread(C.uintptr_t(thread.threadIndex)) {
+		logger.Panic("unable to create thread", zap.Int("threadIndex", thread.threadIndex))
+	}
+	thread.state.waitFor(stateInactive)
+}
+
+// shutdown the underlying PHP thread
+func (thread *phpThread) shutdown() {
+	if !thread.state.requestSafeStateChange(stateShuttingDown) {
+		// already shutting down or done
+		return
+	}
+	close(thread.drainChan)
+	thread.state.waitFor(stateDone)
+	thread.drainChan = make(chan struct{})
+
+	// threads go back to the reserved state from which they can be booted again
+	if mainThread.state.is(stateReady) {
+		thread.state.set(stateReserved)
+	}
+}
+
 // change the thread handler safely
 // must be called from outside the PHP thread
 func (thread *phpThread) setHandler(handler threadHandler) {
-	logger.Debug("setHandler")
 	thread.handlerMu.Lock()
 	defer thread.handlerMu.Unlock()
 	if !thread.state.requestSafeStateChange(stateTransitionRequested) {
-		// no state change allowed == shutdown
+		// no state change allowed == shutdown or done
 		return
 	}
 	close(thread.drainChan)
@@ -69,6 +106,16 @@ func (thread *phpThread) getActiveRequest() *http.Request {
 	return thread.handler.getActiveRequest()
 }
 
+// get the active request from outside the PHP thread
+func (thread *phpThread) getActiveRequestSafely() *http.Request {
+	thread.handlerMu.Lock()
+	thread.requestMu.Lock()
+	r := thread.getActiveRequest()
+	thread.requestMu.Unlock()
+	thread.handlerMu.Unlock()
+	return r
+}
+
 // Pin a string that is not null-terminated
 // PHP's zend_string may contain null-bytes
 func (thread *phpThread) pinString(s string) *C.char {
@@ -95,6 +142,7 @@ func go_frankenphp_before_script_execution(threadIndex C.uintptr_t) *C.char {
 	if scriptName == "" {
 		return nil
 	}
+
 	// return the name of the PHP script that should be executed
 	return thread.pinCString(scriptName)
 }
diff --git a/scaling.go b/scaling.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..84429ba55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scaling.go
@@ -0,0 +1,260 @@
+package frankenphp
+
+//#include "frankenphp.h"
+//#include <sys/resource.h>
+import "C"
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/dunglas/frankenphp/internal/cpu"
+	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
+)
+
+const (
+	// requests have to be stalled for at least this amount of time before scaling
+	minStallTime = 5 * time.Millisecond
+	// time to check for CPU usage before scaling a single thread
+	cpuProbeTime = 120 * time.Millisecond
+	// do not scale over this amount of CPU usage
+	maxCpuUsageForScaling = 0.8
+	// upscale stalled threads every x milliseconds
+	upscaleCheckTime = 100 * time.Millisecond
+	// downscale idle threads every x seconds
+	downScaleCheckTime = 5 * time.Second
+	// max amount of threads stopped in one iteration of downScaleCheckTime
+	maxTerminationCount = 10
+	// autoscaled threads waiting for longer than this time are downscaled
+	maxThreadIdleTime = 5 * time.Second
+)
+
+var (
+	scaleChan         chan *FrankenPHPContext
+	autoScaledThreads = []*phpThread{}
+	scalingMu         = new(sync.RWMutex)
+	disallowScaling   = atomic.Bool{}
+
+	MaxThreadsReachedError      = errors.New("max amount of overall threads reached")
+	CannotRemoveLastThreadError = errors.New("cannot remove last thread")
+	WorkerNotFoundError         = errors.New("worker not found for given filename")
+)
+
+func initAutoScaling(mainThread *phpMainThread) {
+	if mainThread.maxThreads <= mainThread.numThreads {
+		scaleChan = nil
+		return
+	}
+
+	scalingMu.Lock()
+	scaleChan = make(chan *FrankenPHPContext)
+	maxScaledThreads := mainThread.maxThreads - mainThread.numThreads
+	autoScaledThreads = make([]*phpThread, 0, maxScaledThreads)
+	scalingMu.Unlock()
+
+	go startUpscalingThreads(maxScaledThreads, scaleChan, mainThread.done)
+	go startDownScalingThreads(mainThread.done)
+}
+
+func drainAutoScaling() {
+	scalingMu.Lock()
+	if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "shutting down autoscaling"); c != nil {
+		c.Write(zap.Int("autoScaledThreads", len(autoScaledThreads)))
+	}
+	scalingMu.Unlock()
+}
+
+func addRegularThread() (*phpThread, error) {
+	thread := getInactivePHPThread()
+	if thread == nil {
+		return nil, MaxThreadsReachedError
+	}
+	convertToRegularThread(thread)
+	thread.state.waitFor(stateReady, stateShuttingDown, stateReserved)
+	return thread, nil
+}
+
+func removeRegularThread() error {
+	regularThreadMu.RLock()
+	if len(regularThreads) <= 1 {
+		regularThreadMu.RUnlock()
+		return CannotRemoveLastThreadError
+	}
+	thread := regularThreads[len(regularThreads)-1]
+	regularThreadMu.RUnlock()
+	thread.shutdown()
+	return nil
+}
+
+func addWorkerThread(worker *worker) (*phpThread, error) {
+	thread := getInactivePHPThread()
+	if thread == nil {
+		return nil, MaxThreadsReachedError
+	}
+	convertToWorkerThread(thread, worker)
+	thread.state.waitFor(stateReady, stateShuttingDown, stateReserved)
+	return thread, nil
+}
+
+func removeWorkerThread(worker *worker) error {
+	worker.threadMutex.RLock()
+	if len(worker.threads) <= 1 {
+		worker.threadMutex.RUnlock()
+		return CannotRemoveLastThreadError
+	}
+	thread := worker.threads[len(worker.threads)-1]
+	worker.threadMutex.RUnlock()
+	thread.shutdown()
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// scaleWorkerThread adds a worker PHP thread automatically
+func scaleWorkerThread(worker *worker) {
+	scalingMu.Lock()
+	defer scalingMu.Unlock()
+
+	if !mainThread.state.is(stateReady) {
+		return
+	}
+
+	// probe CPU usage before scaling
+	if !cpu.ProbeCPUs(cpuProbeTime, maxCpuUsageForScaling, mainThread.done) {
+		return
+	}
+
+	thread, err := addWorkerThread(worker)
+	if err != nil {
+		if c := logger.Check(zapcore.WarnLevel, "could not increase max_threads, consider raising this limit"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.String("worker", worker.fileName), zap.Error(err))
+		}
+		return
+	}
+
+	autoScaledThreads = append(autoScaledThreads, thread)
+}
+
+// scaleRegularThread adds a regular PHP thread automatically
+func scaleRegularThread() {
+	scalingMu.Lock()
+	defer scalingMu.Unlock()
+
+	if !mainThread.state.is(stateReady) {
+		return
+	}
+
+	// probe CPU usage before scaling
+	if !cpu.ProbeCPUs(cpuProbeTime, maxCpuUsageForScaling, mainThread.done) {
+		return
+	}
+
+	thread, err := addRegularThread()
+	if err != nil {
+		if c := logger.Check(zapcore.WarnLevel, "could not increase max_threads, consider raising this limit"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+		}
+		return
+	}
+
+	autoScaledThreads = append(autoScaledThreads, thread)
+}
+
+func startUpscalingThreads(maxScaledThreads int, scale chan *FrankenPHPContext, done chan struct{}) {
+	for {
+		scalingMu.Lock()
+		scaledThreadCount := len(autoScaledThreads)
+		scalingMu.Unlock()
+		if scaledThreadCount >= maxScaledThreads {
+			// we have reached max_threads, check again later
+			select {
+			case <-done:
+				return
+			case <-time.After(downScaleCheckTime):
+				continue
+			}
+		}
+
+		select {
+		case fc := <-scale:
+			timeSinceStalled := time.Since(fc.startedAt)
+
+			// if the request has not been stalled long enough, wait and repeat
+			if timeSinceStalled < minStallTime {
+				select {
+				case <-done:
+					return
+				case <-time.After(minStallTime - timeSinceStalled):
+					continue
+				}
+			}
+
+			// if the request has been stalled long enough, scale
+			if worker, ok := workers[fc.scriptFilename]; ok {
+				scaleWorkerThread(worker)
+			} else {
+				scaleRegularThread()
+			}
+		case <-done:
+			return
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func startDownScalingThreads(done chan struct{}) {
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-done:
+			return
+		case <-time.After(downScaleCheckTime):
+			deactivateThreads()
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// deactivateThreads checks all threads and removes those that have been inactive for too long
+func deactivateThreads() {
+	stoppedThreadCount := 0
+	scalingMu.Lock()
+	defer scalingMu.Unlock()
+	for i := len(autoScaledThreads) - 1; i >= 0; i-- {
+		thread := autoScaledThreads[i]
+
+		// the thread might have been stopped otherwise, remove it
+		if thread.state.is(stateReserved) {
+			autoScaledThreads = append(autoScaledThreads[:i], autoScaledThreads[i+1:]...)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		waitTime := thread.state.waitTime()
+		if stoppedThreadCount > maxTerminationCount || waitTime == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		// convert threads to inactive if they have been idle for too long
+		if thread.state.is(stateReady) && waitTime > maxThreadIdleTime.Milliseconds() {
+			if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "auto-converting thread to inactive"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.Int("threadIndex", thread.threadIndex))
+			}
+			convertToInactiveThread(thread)
+			stoppedThreadCount++
+			autoScaledThreads = append(autoScaledThreads[:i], autoScaledThreads[i+1:]...)
+
+			continue
+		}
+
+		// TODO: Completely stopping threads is more memory efficient
+		// Some PECL extensions like #1296 will prevent threads from fully stopping (they leak memory)
+		// Reactivate this if there is a better solution or workaround
+		//if thread.state.is(stateInactive) && waitTime > maxThreadIdleTime.Milliseconds() {
+		//	if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "auto-stopping thread"); c != nil {
+		//    c.Write(zap.Int("threadIndex", thread.threadIndex))
+		//  }
+		//	thread.shutdown()
+		//	stoppedThreadCount++
+		//	autoScaledThreads = append(autoScaledThreads[:i], autoScaledThreads[i+1:]...)
+		//	continue
+		//}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/scaling_test.go b/scaling_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..883757c41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scaling_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+package frankenphp
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"go.uber.org/zap"
+)
+
+func TestScaleARegularThreadUpAndDown(t *testing.T) {
+	assert.NoError(t, Init(
+		WithNumThreads(1),
+		WithMaxThreads(2),
+		WithLogger(zap.NewNop()),
+	))
+
+	autoScaledThread := phpThreads[1]
+
+	// scale up
+	scaleRegularThread()
+	assert.Equal(t, stateReady, autoScaledThread.state.get())
+	assert.IsType(t, &regularThread{}, autoScaledThread.handler)
+
+	// on down-scale, the thread will be marked as inactive
+	setLongWaitTime(autoScaledThread)
+	deactivateThreads()
+	assert.IsType(t, &inactiveThread{}, autoScaledThread.handler)
+
+	Shutdown()
+}
+
+func TestScaleAWorkerThreadUpAndDown(t *testing.T) {
+	workerPath := testDataPath + "/transition-worker-1.php"
+	assert.NoError(t, Init(
+		WithNumThreads(2),
+		WithMaxThreads(3),
+		WithWorkers(workerPath, 1, map[string]string{}, []string{}),
+		WithLogger(zap.NewNop()),
+	))
+
+	autoScaledThread := phpThreads[2]
+
+	// scale up
+	scaleWorkerThread(workers[workerPath])
+	assert.Equal(t, stateReady, autoScaledThread.state.get())
+
+	// on down-scale, the thread will be marked as inactive
+	setLongWaitTime(autoScaledThread)
+	deactivateThreads()
+	assert.IsType(t, &inactiveThread{}, autoScaledThread.handler)
+
+	Shutdown()
+}
+
+func setLongWaitTime(thread *phpThread) {
+	thread.state.mu.Lock()
+	thread.state.waitingSince = time.Now().Add(-time.Hour)
+	thread.state.mu.Unlock()
+}
diff --git a/state.go b/state.go
index 001213282..37061c241 100644
--- a/state.go
+++ b/state.go
@@ -2,19 +2,21 @@ package frankenphp
 
 import (
 	"slices"
-	"strconv"
 	"sync"
+	"time"
 )
 
 type stateID uint8
 
 const (
-	// lifecycle states of a thread
-	stateBooting stateID = iota
+	// livecycle states of a thread
+	stateReserved stateID = iota
+	stateBooting
+	stateBootRequested
 	stateShuttingDown
 	stateDone
 
-	// these states are safe to transition from at any time
+	// these states are 'stable' and safe to transition from at any time
 	stateInactive
 	stateReady
 
@@ -28,10 +30,27 @@ const (
 	stateTransitionComplete
 )
 
+var stateNames = map[stateID]string{
+	stateReserved:             "reserved",
+	stateBooting:              "booting",
+	stateInactive:             "inactive",
+	stateReady:                "ready",
+	stateShuttingDown:         "shutting down",
+	stateDone:                 "done",
+	stateRestarting:           "restarting",
+	stateYielding:             "yielding",
+	stateTransitionRequested:  "transition requested",
+	stateTransitionInProgress: "transition in progress",
+	stateTransitionComplete:   "transition complete",
+}
+
 type threadState struct {
 	currentState stateID
 	mu           sync.RWMutex
 	subscribers  []stateSubscriber
+	// how long threads have been waiting in stable states
+	waitingSince time.Time
+	isWaiting    bool
 }
 
 type stateSubscriber struct {
@@ -41,7 +60,7 @@ type stateSubscriber struct {
 
 func newThreadState() *threadState {
 	return &threadState{
-		currentState: stateBooting,
+		currentState: stateReserved,
 		subscribers:  []stateSubscriber{},
 		mu:           sync.RWMutex{},
 	}
@@ -68,8 +87,7 @@ func (ts *threadState) compareAndSwap(compareTo stateID, swapTo stateID) bool {
 }
 
 func (ts *threadState) name() string {
-	// TODO: return the actual name for logging/metrics
-	return "state:" + strconv.Itoa(int(ts.get()))
+	return stateNames[ts.get()]
 }
 
 func (ts *threadState) get() stateID {
@@ -123,8 +141,8 @@ func (ts *threadState) waitFor(states ...stateID) {
 func (ts *threadState) requestSafeStateChange(nextState stateID) bool {
 	ts.mu.Lock()
 	switch ts.currentState {
-	// disallow state changes if shutting down
-	case stateShuttingDown, stateDone:
+	// disallow state changes if shutting down or done
+	case stateShuttingDown, stateDone, stateReserved:
 		ts.mu.Unlock()
 		return false
 	// ready and inactive are safe states to transition from
@@ -140,3 +158,26 @@ func (ts *threadState) requestSafeStateChange(nextState stateID) bool {
 	ts.waitFor(stateReady, stateInactive, stateShuttingDown)
 	return ts.requestSafeStateChange(nextState)
 }
+
+// markAsWaiting hints that the thread reached a stable state and is waiting for requests or shutdown
+func (ts *threadState) markAsWaiting(isWaiting bool) {
+	ts.mu.Lock()
+	if isWaiting {
+		ts.isWaiting = true
+		ts.waitingSince = time.Now()
+	} else {
+		ts.isWaiting = false
+	}
+	ts.mu.Unlock()
+}
+
+// waitTime returns the time since the thread is waiting in a stable state in ms
+func (ts *threadState) waitTime() int64 {
+	ts.mu.RLock()
+	waitTime := int64(0)
+	if ts.isWaiting {
+		waitTime = time.Now().UnixMilli() - ts.waitingSince.UnixMilli()
+	}
+	ts.mu.RUnlock()
+	return waitTime
+}
diff --git a/testdata/ini.php b/testdata/ini.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dfbcd365b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/ini.php
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+<?php
+
+require_once __DIR__.'/_executor.php';
+
+return function () {
+    echo $_GET['key'] . ':' . ini_get($_GET['key']);
+};
diff --git a/testdata/performance/api.js b/testdata/performance/api.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..17d57252e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/performance/api.js
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import http from 'k6/http'
+
+/**
+ * Many applications communicate with external APIs or microservices.
+ * Latencies tend to be much higher than with databases in these cases.
+ * We'll consider 10ms-150ms
+ */
+export const options = {
+  stages: [
+    { duration: '20s', target: 150 },
+    { duration: '20s', target: 1000 },
+    { duration: '10s', target: 0 }
+  ],
+  thresholds: {
+    http_req_failed: ['rate<0.01']
+  }
+}
+
+/* global __ENV */
+export default function () {
+  // 10-150ms latency
+  const latency = Math.floor(Math.random() * 141) + 10
+  // 1-30000 work units
+  const work = Math.ceil(Math.random() * 30000)
+  // 1-40 output units
+  const output = Math.ceil(Math.random() * 40)
+
+  http.get(http.url`${__ENV.CADDY_HOSTNAME}/sleep.php?sleep=${latency}&work=${work}&output=${output}`)
+}
diff --git a/testdata/performance/computation.js b/testdata/performance/computation.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..36ba3cea6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/performance/computation.js
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+import http from 'k6/http'
+
+/**
+ * Simulate an application that does very little IO, but a lot of computation
+ */
+export const options = {
+  stages: [
+    { duration: '20s', target: 80 },
+    { duration: '20s', target: 150 },
+    { duration: '5s', target: 0 }
+  ],
+  thresholds: {
+    http_req_failed: ['rate<0.01']
+  }
+}
+
+/* global __ENV */
+export default function () {
+  // do 1-1,000,000 work units
+  const work = Math.ceil(Math.random() * 1_000_000)
+  // output 1-500 units
+  const output = Math.ceil(Math.random() * 500)
+  // simulate 0-2ms latency
+  const latency = Math.floor(Math.random() * 3)
+
+  http.get(http.url`${__ENV.CADDY_HOSTNAME}/sleep.php?sleep=${latency}&work=${work}&output=${output}`)
+}
diff --git a/testdata/performance/database.js b/testdata/performance/database.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ecef7ad1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/performance/database.js
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import http from 'k6/http'
+
+/**
+ * Modern databases tend to have latencies in the single-digit milliseconds.
+ * We'll simulate 1-10ms latencies and 1-2 queries per request.
+ */
+export const options = {
+  stages: [
+    { duration: '20s', target: 100 },
+    { duration: '30s', target: 200 },
+    { duration: '10s', target: 0 }
+  ],
+  thresholds: {
+    http_req_failed: ['rate<0.01']
+  }
+}
+
+/* global __ENV */
+export default function () {
+  // 1-10ms latency
+  const latency = Math.floor(Math.random() * 10) + 1
+  // 1-2 iterations per request
+  const iterations = Math.floor(Math.random() * 2) + 1
+  // 1-30000 work units per iteration
+  const work = Math.ceil(Math.random() * 30000)
+  // 1-40 output units
+  const output = Math.ceil(Math.random() * 40)
+
+  http.get(http.url`${__ENV.CADDY_HOSTNAME}/sleep.php?sleep=${latency}&work=${work}&output=${output}&iterations=${iterations}`)
+}
diff --git a/testdata/performance/flamegraph.sh b/testdata/performance/flamegraph.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..5f0eaa8de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/performance/flamegraph.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# install brendangregg's FlameGraph
+if [ ! -d "/usr/local/src/flamegraph" ]; then
+	mkdir /usr/local/src/flamegraph &&
+		cd /usr/local/src/flamegraph &&
+		git clone https://github.com/brendangregg/FlameGraph.git
+fi
+
+# let the test warm up
+sleep 10
+
+# run a 30 second profile on the Caddy admin port
+cd /usr/local/src/flamegraph/FlameGraph &&
+	go tool pprof -raw -output=cpu.txt 'http://localhost:2019/debug/pprof/profile?seconds=30' &&
+	./stackcollapse-go.pl cpu.txt | ./flamegraph.pl >/go/src/app/testdata/performance/flamegraph.svg
diff --git a/testdata/performance/hanging-requests.js b/testdata/performance/hanging-requests.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..db191fdef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/performance/hanging-requests.js
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import http from 'k6/http'
+
+/**
+ * It is not uncommon for external services to hang for a long time.
+ * Make sure the server is resilient in such cases and doesn't hang as well.
+ */
+export const options = {
+  stages: [
+    { duration: '20s', target: 100 },
+    { duration: '20s', target: 500 },
+    { duration: '20s', target: 0 }
+  ],
+  thresholds: {
+    http_req_failed: ['rate<0.01']
+  }
+}
+
+/* global __ENV */
+export default function () {
+  // 2% chance for a request that hangs for 15s
+  if (Math.random() < 0.02) {
+    http.get(`${__ENV.CADDY_HOSTNAME}/sleep.php?sleep=15000&work=10000&output=100`)
+    return
+  }
+
+  // a regular request
+  http.get(`${__ENV.CADDY_HOSTNAME}/sleep.php?sleep=5&work=10000&output=100`)
+}
diff --git a/testdata/performance/hello-world.js b/testdata/performance/hello-world.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f0499fede
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/performance/hello-world.js
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import http from 'k6/http'
+
+/**
+ * 'Hello world' tests the raw server performance.
+ */
+export const options = {
+  stages: [
+    { duration: '5s', target: 100 },
+    { duration: '20s', target: 400 },
+    { duration: '5s', target: 0 }
+  ],
+  thresholds: {
+    http_req_failed: ['rate<0.01']
+  }
+}
+
+/* global __ENV */
+export default function () {
+  http.get(`${__ENV.CADDY_HOSTNAME}/sleep.php`)
+}
diff --git a/testdata/performance/k6.Caddyfile b/testdata/performance/k6.Caddyfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..44d5a54b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/performance/k6.Caddyfile
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+{
+	frankenphp {
+		max_threads {$MAX_THREADS}
+		num_threads {$NUM_THREADS}
+		worker {
+			file /go/src/app/testdata/{$WORKER_FILE:sleep.php}
+			num {$WORKER_THREADS}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+:80 {
+	route {
+		root /go/src/app/testdata
+		php {
+			root /go/src/app/testdata
+			enable_root_symlink false
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/testdata/performance/perf-test.sh b/testdata/performance/perf-test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..50740f999
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/performance/perf-test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# install the dev.Dockerfile, build the app and run k6 tests
+
+docker build -t frankenphp-dev -f dev.Dockerfile .
+
+export "CADDY_HOSTNAME=http://host.docker.internal"
+
+select filename in ./testdata/performance/*.js; do
+	read -r -p "How many worker threads? " workerThreads
+	read -r -p "How many max threads? " maxThreads
+
+	numThreads=$((workerThreads + 1))
+
+	docker run --cap-add=SYS_PTRACE --security-opt seccomp=unconfined \
+		-p 8125:80 \
+		-v "$PWD:/go/src/app" \
+		--name load-test-container \
+		-e "MAX_THREADS=$maxThreads" \
+		-e "WORKER_THREADS=$workerThreads" \
+		-e "NUM_THREADS=$numThreads" \
+		-itd \
+		frankenphp-dev \
+		sh /go/src/app/testdata/performance/start-server.sh
+
+	docker exec -d load-test-container sh /go/src/app/testdata/performance/flamegraph.sh
+
+	sleep 10
+
+	docker run --entrypoint "" -it -v .:/app -w /app \
+		--add-host "host.docker.internal:host-gateway" \
+		grafana/k6:latest \
+		k6 run -e "CADDY_HOSTNAME=$CADDY_HOSTNAME:8125" "./$filename"
+
+	docker exec load-test-container curl "http://localhost:2019/frankenphp/threads"
+
+	docker stop load-test-container
+	docker rm load-test-container
+done
diff --git a/testdata/performance/performance-testing.md b/testdata/performance/performance-testing.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e13d4ee58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/performance/performance-testing.md
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Running Load tests
+
+To run load tests with k6 you need to have Docker and Bash installed.
+Go the root of this repository and run:
+
+```sh
+bash testdata/performance/perf-test.sh
+```
+
+This will build the `frankenphp-dev` docker image and run it under the name 'load-test-container'
+in the background. Additionally, it will run the `grafana/k6` container and you'll be able to choose
+the load test you want to run. A `flamegraph.svg` will be created in the `testdata/performance` directory.
+
+If the load test has stopped prematurely, you might have to remove the container manually:
+
+```sh
+docker stop load-test-container
+docker rm load-test-container
+```
diff --git a/testdata/performance/start-server.sh b/testdata/performance/start-server.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..998c148cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/performance/start-server.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# build and run FrankenPHP with the k6.Caddyfile
+cd /go/src/app/caddy/frankenphp &&
+	go build --buildvcs=false &&
+	cd ../../testdata/performance &&
+	/go/src/app/caddy/frankenphp/frankenphp run -c k6.Caddyfile
diff --git a/testdata/performance/timeouts.js b/testdata/performance/timeouts.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..775c36441
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/performance/timeouts.js
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import http from 'k6/http'
+
+/**
+ * Databases or external resources can sometimes become unavailable for short periods of time.
+ * Make sure the server can recover quickly from periods of unavailability.
+ * This simulation swaps between a hanging and a working server every 10 seconds.
+ */
+export const options = {
+  stages: [
+    { duration: '20s', target: 100 },
+    { duration: '20s', target: 500 },
+    { duration: '20s', target: 0 }
+  ],
+  thresholds: {
+    http_req_failed: ['rate<0.01']
+  }
+}
+
+/* global __ENV */
+export default function () {
+  const tenSecondInterval = Math.floor(new Date().getSeconds() / 10)
+  const shouldHang = tenSecondInterval % 2 === 0
+
+  // every 10 seconds requests lead to a max_execution-timeout
+  if (shouldHang) {
+    http.get(`${__ENV.CADDY_HOSTNAME}/sleep.php?sleep=50000`)
+    return
+  }
+
+  // every other 10 seconds the resource is back
+  http.get(`${__ENV.CADDY_HOSTNAME}/sleep.php?sleep=5&work=30000&output=100`)
+}
diff --git a/testdata/sleep.php b/testdata/sleep.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..174a28294
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/sleep.php
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+<?php
+
+require_once __DIR__ . '/_executor.php';
+
+return function () {
+    $sleep = (int)($_GET['sleep'] ?? 0);
+    $work = (int)($_GET['work'] ?? 0);
+    $output = (int)($_GET['output'] ?? 1);
+    $iterations = (int)($_GET['iterations'] ?? 1);
+
+    for ($i = 0; $i < $iterations; $i++) {
+        // simulate work
+        // with 30_000 iterations we're in the range of a simple Laravel request
+        // (without JIT and with debug symbols enabled)
+        for ($j = 0; $j < $work; $j++) {
+            $a = +$j;
+        }
+
+        // simulate IO, sleep x milliseconds
+        if ($sleep > 0) {
+            usleep($sleep * 1000);
+        }
+
+        // simulate output
+        for ($k = 0; $k < $output; $k++) {
+            echo "slept for $sleep ms and worked for $work iterations";
+        }
+    }
+};
diff --git a/testdata/worker-with-watcher.php b/testdata/worker-with-counter.php
similarity index 100%
rename from testdata/worker-with-watcher.php
rename to testdata/worker-with-counter.php
diff --git a/thread-regular.go b/thread-regular.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 88d72106b..000000000
--- a/thread-regular.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,78 +0,0 @@
-package frankenphp
-
-// #include "frankenphp.h"
-import "C"
-import (
-	"net/http"
-)
-
-// representation of a non-worker PHP thread
-// executes PHP scripts in a web context
-// implements the threadHandler interface
-type regularThread struct {
-	state         *threadState
-	thread        *phpThread
-	activeRequest *http.Request
-}
-
-func convertToRegularThread(thread *phpThread) {
-	thread.setHandler(&regularThread{
-		thread: thread,
-		state:  thread.state,
-	})
-}
-
-// beforeScriptExecution returns the name of the script or an empty string on shutdown
-func (handler *regularThread) beforeScriptExecution() string {
-	switch handler.state.get() {
-	case stateTransitionRequested:
-		return handler.thread.transitionToNewHandler()
-	case stateTransitionComplete:
-		handler.state.set(stateReady)
-		return handler.waitForRequest()
-	case stateReady:
-		return handler.waitForRequest()
-	case stateShuttingDown:
-		// signal to stop
-		return ""
-	}
-	panic("unexpected state: " + handler.state.name())
-}
-
-// return true if the worker should continue to run
-func (handler *regularThread) afterScriptExecution(exitStatus int) {
-	handler.afterRequest(exitStatus)
-}
-
-func (handler *regularThread) getActiveRequest() *http.Request {
-	return handler.activeRequest
-}
-
-func (handler *regularThread) waitForRequest() string {
-	select {
-	case <-handler.thread.drainChan:
-		// go back to beforeScriptExecution
-		return handler.beforeScriptExecution()
-
-	case r := <-requestChan:
-		handler.activeRequest = r
-		fc := r.Context().Value(contextKey).(*FrankenPHPContext)
-
-		if err := updateServerContext(handler.thread, r, true, false); err != nil {
-			rejectRequest(fc.responseWriter, err.Error())
-			handler.afterRequest(0)
-			// go back to beforeScriptExecution
-			return handler.beforeScriptExecution()
-		}
-
-		// set the scriptFilename that should be executed
-		return fc.scriptFilename
-	}
-}
-
-func (handler *regularThread) afterRequest(exitStatus int) {
-	fc := handler.activeRequest.Context().Value(contextKey).(*FrankenPHPContext)
-	fc.exitStatus = exitStatus
-	maybeCloseContext(fc)
-	handler.activeRequest = nil
-}
diff --git a/thread-inactive.go b/threadinactive.go
similarity index 67%
rename from thread-inactive.go
rename to threadinactive.go
index 7c4810c71..c0404a8d4 100644
--- a/thread-inactive.go
+++ b/threadinactive.go
@@ -6,15 +6,13 @@ import (
 
 // representation of a thread with no work assigned to it
 // implements the threadHandler interface
+// each inactive thread weighs around ~350KB
+// keeping threads at 'inactive' will consume more memory, but allow a faster transition
 type inactiveThread struct {
 	thread *phpThread
 }
 
 func convertToInactiveThread(thread *phpThread) {
-	if thread.handler == nil {
-		thread.handler = &inactiveThread{thread: thread}
-		return
-	}
 	thread.setHandler(&inactiveThread{thread: thread})
 }
 
@@ -26,8 +24,11 @@ func (handler *inactiveThread) beforeScriptExecution() string {
 		return thread.transitionToNewHandler()
 	case stateBooting, stateTransitionComplete:
 		thread.state.set(stateInactive)
+
 		// wait for external signal to start or shut down
+		thread.state.markAsWaiting(true)
 		thread.state.waitFor(stateTransitionRequested, stateShuttingDown)
+		thread.state.markAsWaiting(false)
 		return handler.beforeScriptExecution()
 	case stateShuttingDown:
 		// signal to stop
@@ -36,10 +37,14 @@ func (handler *inactiveThread) beforeScriptExecution() string {
 	panic("unexpected state: " + thread.state.name())
 }
 
-func (thread *inactiveThread) afterScriptExecution(exitStatus int) {
+func (handler *inactiveThread) afterScriptExecution(exitStatus int) {
 	panic("inactive threads should not execute scripts")
 }
 
-func (thread *inactiveThread) getActiveRequest() *http.Request {
-	panic("inactive threads have no requests")
+func (handler *inactiveThread) getActiveRequest() *http.Request {
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (handler *inactiveThread) name() string {
+	return "Inactive PHP Thread"
 }
diff --git a/threadregular.go b/threadregular.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ce0778c78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/threadregular.go
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+package frankenphp
+
+import (
+	"net/http"
+	"sync"
+)
+
+// representation of a non-worker PHP thread
+// executes PHP scripts in a web context
+// implements the threadHandler interface
+type regularThread struct {
+	state         *threadState
+	thread        *phpThread
+	activeRequest *http.Request
+}
+
+var (
+	regularThreads     []*phpThread
+	regularThreadMu    = &sync.RWMutex{}
+	regularRequestChan chan *http.Request
+)
+
+func convertToRegularThread(thread *phpThread) {
+	thread.setHandler(&regularThread{
+		thread: thread,
+		state:  thread.state,
+	})
+	attachRegularThread(thread)
+}
+
+// beforeScriptExecution returns the name of the script or an empty string on shutdown
+func (handler *regularThread) beforeScriptExecution() string {
+	switch handler.state.get() {
+	case stateTransitionRequested:
+		detachRegularThread(handler.thread)
+		return handler.thread.transitionToNewHandler()
+	case stateTransitionComplete:
+		handler.state.set(stateReady)
+		return handler.waitForRequest()
+	case stateReady:
+		return handler.waitForRequest()
+	case stateShuttingDown:
+		detachRegularThread(handler.thread)
+		// signal to stop
+		return ""
+	}
+	panic("unexpected state: " + handler.state.name())
+}
+
+// return true if the worker should continue to run
+func (handler *regularThread) afterScriptExecution(exitStatus int) {
+	handler.afterRequest(exitStatus)
+}
+
+func (handler *regularThread) getActiveRequest() *http.Request {
+	return handler.activeRequest
+}
+
+func (handler *regularThread) setActiveRequest(r *http.Request) {
+	handler.thread.requestMu.Lock()
+	handler.activeRequest = r
+	handler.thread.requestMu.Unlock()
+}
+
+func (handler *regularThread) name() string {
+	return "Regular PHP Thread"
+}
+
+func (handler *regularThread) waitForRequest() string {
+	handler.state.markAsWaiting(true)
+
+	var r *http.Request
+	select {
+	case <-handler.thread.drainChan:
+		// go back to beforeScriptExecution
+		return handler.beforeScriptExecution()
+	case r = <-regularRequestChan:
+	}
+
+	handler.setActiveRequest(r)
+	handler.state.markAsWaiting(false)
+	fc := r.Context().Value(contextKey).(*FrankenPHPContext)
+
+	if err := updateServerContext(handler.thread, r, true, false); err != nil {
+		rejectRequest(fc.responseWriter, err.Error())
+		handler.afterRequest(0)
+		handler.thread.Unpin()
+		// go back to beforeScriptExecution
+		return handler.beforeScriptExecution()
+	}
+
+	// set the scriptFilename that should be executed
+	return fc.scriptFilename
+}
+
+func (handler *regularThread) afterRequest(exitStatus int) {
+	fc := handler.activeRequest.Context().Value(contextKey).(*FrankenPHPContext)
+	fc.exitStatus = exitStatus
+	maybeCloseContext(fc)
+	handler.setActiveRequest(nil)
+}
+
+func handleRequestWithRegularPHPThreads(r *http.Request, fc *FrankenPHPContext) {
+	metrics.StartRequest()
+	select {
+	case regularRequestChan <- r:
+		// a thread was available to handle the request immediately
+		<-fc.done
+		metrics.StopRequest()
+		return
+	default:
+		// no thread was available
+	}
+
+	// if no thread was available, mark the request as queued and fan it out to all threads
+	metrics.QueuedRequest()
+	for {
+		select {
+		case regularRequestChan <- r:
+			metrics.DequeuedRequest()
+			<-fc.done
+			metrics.StopRequest()
+			return
+		case scaleChan <- fc:
+			// the request has triggered scaling, continue to wait for a thread
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func attachRegularThread(thread *phpThread) {
+	regularThreadMu.Lock()
+	regularThreads = append(regularThreads, thread)
+	regularThreadMu.Unlock()
+}
+
+func detachRegularThread(thread *phpThread) {
+	regularThreadMu.Lock()
+	for i, t := range regularThreads {
+		if t == thread {
+			regularThreads = append(regularThreads[:i], regularThreads[i+1:]...)
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	regularThreadMu.Unlock()
+}
diff --git a/thread-worker.go b/threadworker.go
similarity index 89%
rename from thread-worker.go
rename to threadworker.go
index e087de0a8..acd1481a7 100644
--- a/thread-worker.go
+++ b/threadworker.go
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ func (handler *workerThread) beforeScriptExecution() string {
 		setupWorkerScript(handler, handler.worker)
 		return handler.worker.fileName
 	case stateShuttingDown:
+		handler.worker.detachThread(handler.thread)
 		// signal to stop
 		return ""
 	}
@@ -70,6 +71,10 @@ func (handler *workerThread) getActiveRequest() *http.Request {
 	return handler.fakeRequest
 }
 
+func (handler *workerThread) name() string {
+	return "Worker PHP Thread - " + handler.worker.fileName
+}
+
 func setupWorkerScript(handler *workerThread, worker *worker) {
 	handler.backoff.wait()
 	metrics.StartWorker(worker.fileName)
@@ -93,7 +98,7 @@ func setupWorkerScript(handler *workerThread, worker *worker) {
 		panic(err)
 	}
 
-	handler.fakeRequest = r
+	handler.setFakeRequest(r)
 	if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "starting"); c != nil {
 		c.Write(zap.String("worker", worker.fileName), zap.Int("thread", handler.thread.threadIndex))
 	}
@@ -105,15 +110,12 @@ func tearDownWorkerScript(handler *workerThread, exitStatus int) {
 	if handler.workerRequest != nil {
 		fc := handler.workerRequest.Context().Value(contextKey).(*FrankenPHPContext)
 		maybeCloseContext(fc)
-		handler.workerRequest = nil
+		handler.setWorkerRequest(nil)
 	}
 
 	fc := handler.fakeRequest.Context().Value(contextKey).(*FrankenPHPContext)
 	fc.exitStatus = exitStatus
-
-	defer func() {
-		handler.fakeRequest = nil
-	}()
+	handler.setFakeRequest(nil)
 
 	// on exit status 0 we just run the worker script again
 	worker := handler.worker
@@ -152,6 +154,8 @@ func (handler *workerThread) waitForWorkerRequest() bool {
 		metrics.ReadyWorker(handler.worker.fileName)
 	}
 
+	handler.state.markAsWaiting(true)
+
 	var r *http.Request
 	select {
 	case <-handler.thread.drainChan:
@@ -159,8 +163,9 @@ func (handler *workerThread) waitForWorkerRequest() bool {
 			c.Write(zap.String("worker", handler.worker.fileName))
 		}
 
-		// execute opcache_reset if the restart was triggered by the watcher
-		if watcherIsEnabled && handler.state.is(stateRestarting) {
+		// flush the opcache when restarting due to watcher or admin api
+		// note: this is done right before frankenphp_handle_request() returns 'false'
+		if handler.state.is(stateRestarting) {
 			C.frankenphp_reset_opcache()
 		}
 
@@ -169,7 +174,8 @@ func (handler *workerThread) waitForWorkerRequest() bool {
 	case r = <-handler.worker.requestChan:
 	}
 
-	handler.workerRequest = r
+	handler.setWorkerRequest(r)
+	handler.state.markAsWaiting(false)
 
 	if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "request handling started"); c != nil {
 		c.Write(zap.String("worker", handler.worker.fileName), zap.String("url", r.RequestURI))
@@ -192,6 +198,18 @@ func (handler *workerThread) waitForWorkerRequest() bool {
 	return true
 }
 
+func (handler *workerThread) setWorkerRequest(r *http.Request) {
+	handler.thread.requestMu.Lock()
+	handler.workerRequest = r
+	handler.thread.requestMu.Unlock()
+}
+
+func (handler *workerThread) setFakeRequest(r *http.Request) {
+	handler.thread.requestMu.Lock()
+	handler.fakeRequest = r
+	handler.thread.requestMu.Unlock()
+}
+
 // go_frankenphp_worker_handle_request_start is called at the start of every php request served.
 //
 //export go_frankenphp_worker_handle_request_start
@@ -210,7 +228,6 @@ func go_frankenphp_finish_worker_request(threadIndex C.uintptr_t) {
 
 	maybeCloseContext(fc)
 	thread.handler.(*workerThread).workerRequest = nil
-	thread.handler.(*workerThread).inRequest = false
 
 	if c := fc.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "request handling finished"); c != nil {
 		c.Write(zap.String("worker", fc.scriptFilename), zap.String("url", r.RequestURI))
diff --git a/watcher_test.go b/watcher_test.go
index ac95929e8..afd4e8c88 100644
--- a/watcher_test.go
+++ b/watcher_test.go
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ func TestWorkersShouldReloadOnMatchingPattern(t *testing.T) {
 	runTest(t, func(handler func(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request), _ *httptest.Server, i int) {
 		requestBodyHasReset := pollForWorkerReset(t, handler, maxTimesToPollForChanges)
 		assert.True(t, requestBodyHasReset)
-	}, &testOptions{nbParallelRequests: 1, nbWorkers: 1, workerScript: "worker-with-watcher.php", watch: watch})
+	}, &testOptions{nbParallelRequests: 1, nbWorkers: 1, workerScript: "worker-with-counter.php", watch: watch})
 }
 
 func TestWorkersShouldNotReloadOnExcludingPattern(t *testing.T) {
@@ -37,19 +37,19 @@ func TestWorkersShouldNotReloadOnExcludingPattern(t *testing.T) {
 	runTest(t, func(handler func(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request), _ *httptest.Server, i int) {
 		requestBodyHasReset := pollForWorkerReset(t, handler, minTimesToPollForChanges)
 		assert.False(t, requestBodyHasReset)
-	}, &testOptions{nbParallelRequests: 1, nbWorkers: 1, workerScript: "worker-with-watcher.php", watch: watch})
+	}, &testOptions{nbParallelRequests: 1, nbWorkers: 1, workerScript: "worker-with-counter.php", watch: watch})
 }
 
 func pollForWorkerReset(t *testing.T, handler func(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request), limit int) bool {
 	// first we make an initial request to start the request counter
-	body := fetchBody("GET", "http://example.com/worker-with-watcher.php", handler)
+	body := fetchBody("GET", "http://example.com/worker-with-counter.php", handler)
 	assert.Equal(t, "requests:1", body)
 
 	// now we spam file updates and check if the request counter resets
 	for i := 0; i < limit; i++ {
 		updateTestFile("./testdata/files/test.txt", "updated", t)
 		time.Sleep(pollingTime * time.Millisecond)
-		body := fetchBody("GET", "http://example.com/worker-with-watcher.php", handler)
+		body := fetchBody("GET", "http://example.com/worker-with-counter.php", handler)
 		if body == "requests:1" {
 			return true
 		}
diff --git a/worker.go b/worker.go
index bbb44c195..b366e37ea 100644
--- a/worker.go
+++ b/worker.go
@@ -56,7 +56,8 @@ func initWorkers(opt []workerOpt) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	if err := watcher.InitWatcher(directoriesToWatch, restartWorkers, getLogger()); err != nil {
+	watcherIsEnabled = true
+	if err := watcher.InitWatcher(directoriesToWatch, RestartWorkers, getLogger()); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -89,7 +90,12 @@ func drainWorkers() {
 	watcher.DrainWatcher()
 }
 
-func restartWorkers() {
+// RestartWorkers attempts to restart all workers gracefully
+func RestartWorkers() {
+	// disallow scaling threads while restarting workers
+	scalingMu.Lock()
+	defer scalingMu.Unlock()
+
 	ready := sync.WaitGroup{}
 	threadsToRestart := make([]*phpThread, 0)
 	for _, worker := range workers {
@@ -97,7 +103,8 @@ func restartWorkers() {
 		ready.Add(len(worker.threads))
 		for _, thread := range worker.threads {
 			if !thread.state.requestSafeStateChange(stateRestarting) {
-				// no state change allowed = shutdown
+				// no state change allowed == thread is shutting down
+				// we'll proceed to restart all other threads anyways
 				continue
 			}
 			close(thread.drainChan)
@@ -143,6 +150,14 @@ func (worker *worker) detachThread(thread *phpThread) {
 	worker.threadMutex.Unlock()
 }
 
+func (worker *worker) countThreads() int {
+	worker.threadMutex.RLock()
+	l := len(worker.threads)
+	worker.threadMutex.RUnlock()
+
+	return l
+}
+
 func (worker *worker) handleRequest(r *http.Request, fc *FrankenPHPContext) {
 	metrics.StartWorkerRequest(fc.scriptFilename)
 
@@ -156,13 +171,22 @@ func (worker *worker) handleRequest(r *http.Request, fc *FrankenPHPContext) {
 			metrics.StopWorkerRequest(worker.fileName, time.Since(fc.startedAt))
 			return
 		default:
+			// thread is busy, continue
 		}
 	}
 	worker.threadMutex.RUnlock()
 
-	// if no thread was available, fan the request out to all threads
-	// TODO: theoretically there could be autoscaling of threads here
-	worker.requestChan <- r
-	<-fc.done
-	metrics.StopWorkerRequest(worker.fileName, time.Since(fc.startedAt))
+	// if no thread was available, mark the request as queued and apply the scaling strategy
+	metrics.QueuedWorkerRequest(fc.scriptFilename)
+	for {
+		select {
+		case worker.requestChan <- r:
+			metrics.DequeuedWorkerRequest(fc.scriptFilename)
+			<-fc.done
+			metrics.StopWorkerRequest(worker.fileName, time.Since(fc.startedAt))
+			return
+		case scaleChan <- fc:
+			// the request has triggered scaling, continue to wait for a thread
+		}
+	}
 }